


Build your own life

by TwurtleEggy



Series: Ori, but a little to the left [11]
Category: Ori and the Blind Forest
Genre: Bad 'Cooking', Decent Cooking, Gen, Moving Out, Relationships are there but they're usually not the focus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-08-10
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:20:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 49,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24067243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwurtleEggy/pseuds/TwurtleEggy
Summary: There are many parts to independence.
Relationships: Kuro & Ku (Ori and the Blind Forest), Kuro/Original Male Character (Ori and the Blind Forest), Ori & Naru (Ori and the Blind Forest), Ori/Sein (Ori and the Blind Forest)
Series: Ori, but a little to the left [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1709002
Comments: 130
Kudos: 71





	1. Foundation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Setting up.

Ori shifted the bag around on his back. "Well. This is it."

Naru's smile was more somber than any she'd had before. "It is, isn't it?" She wrapped him in a hug which he readily returned. "I'm going to miss you. You know you're always welcome here, right?"

"I know," he muttered, "but I need to do this. I need to grow up."

"I know you have to." She sniffed, "I just wish you didn't."

"Me too. But I'll visit! I promise!"

She laughed and let him go. "I'll hold you to that. Now, you should get going! No sense in wasting sunlight while you've got it."

He nodded, and turned away. He walked out of the cave and took a deep breath, before treading into the undergrowth. He had a vague idea of where he wanted to settle, but first he had to get there. He started dashing towards the Sunken Glades; just as Naru had said, there was no sense in wasting sunlight. Colors rushed by, but Ori kept his pace. He wanted to give himself as much time as possible to get stuff set up.

He fell into the Glades, and scrambled through them. There was one particular spot-there! A large, hollow tree stump he had passed by several times when exploring deeper into the Glades. The stump was nothing too impressive, but he didn't really want impressive. Even if it was hollow, it was incredibly sturdy, had a decent amount of cover from the weather, and would generally serve the purpose of being his new home. For the time being, at least; he definitely wanted to find somewhere a bit more spacious to live, probably a cave like most of the forest's other residents. For now, though, this would do nicely.

He walked into the hollow stump-big enough for a serviceable nest or two, a small area for a fire, and some space for storage-and emptied the contents of his bag onto the ground. There were simple things; some now cold(but probably still delicious) soup that Naru had made him, ten berries, and a large amount of sticks. It was nearing midday, so Ori drank most of the soup, which was just as good as he knew it would be. There was plenty of light left in the day, but there was also plenty he wanted to get done. First order of business: get a better roof over his head. The stump surrounded him decently, but there was still plenty of space open to the weather, a problem that he wanted solved as soon as possible before it grew out of hand.

Step one: Were the sticks he had long enough to make the base of his roof, or would he need to go get longer ones? Easy, he needed longer ones; the sticks he brought were for the fire, not the roof. It might take a while to get enough sticks, as he probably wouldn't be able to carry more than two or three back at a time, purely due to how much bigger than him they would have to be.

He set about gathering what he needed with quite literally _nothing_ exciting happening. This was a good thing, as he didn't want any distractions, but he was sort of surprised. Usually, weird stuff was around every corner of Nibel; maybe he'd just stumbled upon the one part of it that was actually calm.

Once he'd collected up all the sticks he needed and had them lying just outside of the stump, he went about step two: actually putting them up. First, he set a few into the ground at the lowest end of the stump's top, to keep all the others up. Next was to actually get the others up. He was incredibly glad for how strong and acrobatic he was; the top of the stump was roughly twice his height, and he was legitimately exhausted by the time he'd gotten all of the sticks up. It was all worth it in the end, though, as he now had the foundation for an actual roof, with more daylight left than he had expected to have. Which was fortunate, because he was in desperate need of a break.

He quickly downed the rest of the soup, draining the remainder of the bottle in less than half a minute. He was still hungry, though, so he ate six of the ten berries he had brought. Four left, which wouldn't be enough for dinner-this had been much more draining than he had been expecting. First though, step three: he needed leaves, big ones. They would cover up the cracks between the sticks, and be the final part to the roof. 

There were plenty of trees bearing large enough leaves, and the only particular obstacles he faced was reaching the leaves and detaching them without ripping them. He easily got the task done, and went about laying the leaves out on top of his humble abode. He made two layers: the first had the leaves looped taught across sections of sticks, so as to keep them from flying away in storms. The second layer was meant to cover the few cracks the first layer left. He knew there were ways he could more effectively attach the first layer to the sticks-even to the point of not needing the second layer-but he would probably need some help from Gumo for that.

He ate the four remaining berries, grabbed the bottle and bag, and exited the stump. He walked to the nearest water source he knew of, a small stream a few minutes walk from his stump. The trip wasn't annoying now, but he knew he would want to get another bottle or two, or the trips for water would definitely start to get in the way. He filled the bottle with crystal clear water(thanks Ginso) and filled his bag with a solid fifteen berries from nearby bushes. Not as many as he wanted, but it should be enough for both dinner and breakfast. He could go for a bigger bag...

There was so little he knew how to do. He had survival skills aplenty, but he didn't know how to make a bag. He could track down undiscovered rivers better than anyone in Nibel and Niwen, identify over twenty different species of berries on sight and smell alone, and beat creatures several times his size in combat, but _he couldn't make a simple bag._

...Calm down. Worrying over nothing wasn't going to help him. Instead, he should focus on ways he could get access to the bigger bag he wanted. The easiest way would just be to ask Naru to make him one. That, however, felt cheap. He was an adult, and he would act like it, which meant no asking for favors. If he wanted something, he would pay for it. But what to pay with? He didn't have anything Naru wanted. Well, aside from company, but that wasn't the sort of thing someone paid for or with.

Whatever. What he had was good enough for the time being. He had a source of water and food, and a shelter with a roof; for now, he was set. Though, making his inevitable fire safer would be nice... meh, couldn't hurt. He grabbed a few rocks from out of the stream; he couldn't carry enough for a full fire pit, but getting a head start on it would be nice.

He walked back to his house and sorted out his supplies. The sun would be going down soon, so he quickly put everything in the corner, emptied the contents of the bag, and dashed back to the stream. He filled the bag as much as he dared, and quickly dashed home. One more trip, and he deemed himself as having enough rocks for his fire pit.

...Small problem, he realized. The rocks were wet, which meant he had to dry them before he could use them. And to effectively dry them, he needed to make a fire. Easy enough to solve; just line the rocks up a bit far out, make the fire, and wait for them to dry before pushing them closer together. He got the tiny blaze going and sat back as the sun set and the rocks dried. Ori grabbed a couple berries from the pile and looked around his little stump, occasionally putting a couple more sticks in the fire and munching on his dinner.

He didn't get a proper nest set up, but the ground here was... decently soft. He'd be a little sore in the morning, but he would survive just fine. "This is somehow both easier and harder than I thought it would be..." No response. Right, there was no one else around _to_ respond. Hopefully he wouldn't lose his mind out here... nah, he'd be fine. He wasn't _that_ far from everyone else.

He finished his fourth berry and carefully put a couple more sticks on the fire. He felt one of the rocks and found that it was drying, but was unfortunately still damp. He hoped they would be dry by nightfall, yet judging by the moon's presence in the sky when he peaked out of his home, his hopes weren't to be.

He bit into his next berry, and laid down on his back. The fire was warm, his stomach was decently full, and there was a nice roof over his head. He felt like his first day of being a proper adult had gone well.

Of course, there was still plenty left to do for the following days. He needed to get his nest set up, for one. There's the matter of the additional bottles and bigger bag. He needs to make sure everyone knows he's moved out of Swallow's Nest, and that is definitely one of the most urgent tasks, right alongside the nest. He looks around his stump, and places another stick in the weak fire. He'd like to keep it going for as long as he can, partially to dry the rocks faster, partially in case any predators come along, but mostly just because it's warm.

He realizes that winter's going to _suck._ He can't constantly have a flame going, his fur isn't quite thick enough to resist extended exposure to the cold, and he won't have the cave in Swallow's Nest to hide within. He'd have to make as thick of a nest as possible for when it got especially cold at night, and he'd probably have to make some changes to his roof, to avoid it collapsing under snow. But those are all issues for the future; he's got plenty of time to figure them out, and a couple of more pressing matters he'll have to deal with.

Ori coughs and his eyes water as the smoke from the fire is suddenly blown into his face by the wind. Maybe he should put that out now... and move it outside tomorrow. He moves to the side and blows out the weak flame, then curls up in the corner of his little abode, letting his dreams of the future take him away.

* * *

Ori wakes with a yawn on his mouth and a few aches along his body. He eats his breakfast, drinks a bit from his bottle of water, and checks the rocks. They've dried off, so he takes them out of the stump and places them just to the side of the entrance. Once he's re-lit the fire, it'll be close enough to provide some heat and let him quickly get a torch if any predators come by, yet out of the way enough that the smoke won't be blown into his face. He could probably improve on it later, but this would work.

He looks out into the Glades, pondering what he should do today. First off of course, his nest. The fibers he needed were plentiful in the Glades, yet gathering them took a surprisingly long time, due largely to the sheer amount he needed. It wasn't particularly tiring, but by the time he was done, the day was nearly half way over. His labors bore him reward, however; he now had a nest within his home, big enough for him to comfortably lay out on.

He grabs his bag and bottle, and makes his way to the stream. He gathers and eats lunch at the stream, refills his bottle with water, and gathers himself another fifteen berries for tonight's dinner and tomorrow's breakfast.

He returns home and deposits his rewards in the corner, before exiting the stump and collecting some more sticks for the fire. He's not running low, but keeping a buffer could come in handy. He notices a large, fallen tree that seems to have split in half. He rushes home and deposits the sticks with all the others, then rushes back and examines the fallen tree. If he's careful, he can probably claw away at certain parts and cut off part of the tree to use as firewood. And so, he does just that, cutting away at sections of the log until he's able to pry a piece off with relative ease. It's about the size of one of his arms, and he brings it back to his house, carefully placing it among the sticks.

It's a little past noon now, and he sits down on his nest to think. He's got everything he needs to do, so now it's time to move on to the next list of tasks: what he should do. First thing's first: making sure everyone knows he's moved. Naru already knows, and she promised to tell Gumo. That leaves the Spirit Tree, who can tell all the little spirits, Kuro and her family, Ginso, and Sein. He can tell the Spirit Tree and Sein at the same time, so that means he only needs to make three trips: one to the Hollow Grove, one to the Forlorn Ruins, and one to the Ginso Tree. There's only one small problem: how does he tell them all _where_ he's moved? The tree stump might be decently big, but it was far from standing out. Everywhere else just stuck out, while this place was actually kind of hidden, now that he thought about it. What to do, what to do...

...The map stone! Of course, why didn't he think of that earlier? He could just go to the map stone in the Glades and update it! First though... he needed to know how the map stones actually worked. He was relatively sure there was some stuff with light going on with them, so he'd have to ask Sein and the Spirit Tree for some help. That would work out well, though; he could let them know he moved and get the map stone updated at the same time.

That would be a rather large task, however, so he decided to save it for tomorrow. For today, he would figure out the next two things he should do: insulating the stump, and making a door. It was already early fall, and he wanted to be prepared for the inevitable chill of winter. Plus, the door would help kept things out at night.

To start, he went and gathered more large sticks, and laid them out in front of his house for the time being. He then got more large leaves, and brought those back. He laid the sticks out in rows, and wrapped them up with the leaves, then leaned his makeshift covering against the side of his house. There, door was made; he could move it into place at night or when he was away. As for the rest of the insulation, that would be harder. He still had some sticks and leaves left over, so he repeated the process of making the door with one notable difference: for the ends, he used much longer sticks. This new barricade was then lain as close to flush with the outside of the stump as he could make it. From there, he pushed the ends into the ground, making the first of several outer barriers. He knew he wouldn't be able to get this done today-there wasn't enough time-but he could at least get started.

By the time the sun was beginning to fall out of sight, he had managed to get about a quarter of his home surrounded in the barriers. There was definitely room for noticeable improvements; the barriers only reached about half way up his house, and they were relatively thin. They would do for now, however, and they would be easy to replace once he had better options available to him.

He moved his door into place, sat down in his nest, and set into his dinner. Another thing he should do: get more food options. Berries were nice, but having them every day for every meal would make him sick of them fast. For now though, they were sweet, and easily lulled him into a state of drowsiness.

Tomorrow, he would make sure everyone knew where he was. Tonight, though, he could rest peacefully, happy that he was making his first steps of independence.


	2. Lay of the land

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Learning the land.

Ori wakes up and stretches, feeling much better than he had waking up the previous day. He got up, ate his breakfast, and picked up his bag and water bottle. The stream was on the way to the Spirit Tree, so he might as well refill his bag and water bottle on the same trip as he informs the Spirit Tree and Sein of his move. Once he reaches the stream, he refills the bottle and gathers fifteen berries. He'll have to come back to refill the bag after lunch, so he has enough for both tonight's dinner and tomorrow's breakfast.

He dashes to the Hollow Grove, and up to the Spirit Tree. "Hello sir."

"Ori," the tree rumbles, "is something the matter? You're up rather early. And I don't believe you came from Swallow's Nest."

"Yeah, I actually moved out."

"You did? Did something happen?"

"No, nothing happened," he reassured, "I'm... trying to be more independent."

"Well," the tree sighed, "while I think that's a rather extreme first step, I suppose I can't stop you. Where have you moved to?"

"Oh, part of the Sunken Glades. I'm pretty sure it's not on the map stone though, so I came to ask Sein for help with updating it."

"Well then, I wish you luck with that. They're coming down now." Sure enough, he could see the orb floating towards him already.

"Hi."

"Hi," the orb replied. "You really moved?"

"Yep, I did. Wanna see where?"

"Sure. By the way, you know you don't need me to update the map stone, right?"

His eyes widened as he started walking back to the Glades, Sein following right behind. "Seriously?"

"Yeah. The light on it is just for marking paths and important locations. You can just carve out a new section-if there's space, of course."

"I think there should be enough space. How about I take you to my house, then to the stone?"

"Works for me."

* * *

"Well, here we are."

"It's nice," they remarked. "Kind of small, but you definitely picked a good spot."

"Thanks," he muttered, rubbing the back of his head. His ears perked up as he suddenly remembered something. "Crap, I don't have anything to pay you with. Unless you suddenly like berries."

"Ori, you don't have to pay me for something like this," they giggled, "it'll be fine."

"You're sure?" He wasn't quite convinced that they weren't just trying to be nice.

"Absolutely, you dork. Besides, you're the one that's gonna have to carve out the map."

"Right," he muttered, moving the door to the side. "Well, I just got here a couple days ago, so I don't have too much done."

"Looks to me like you've gotten plenty done. You've even got a nest already."

He shrugged but thanked them anyway. "Alright. You ready to go to the map stone?"

"Yep!" They looked around. "Wow, this is kind of out of the way. Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure I've ever been this way before. And it's actually kind of far from the main part of the Glades..." they trailed off in thought.

"Is something the matter?"

"Hm?" they turned to him. "Oh, no, nothing's wrong. I'm just thinking of something. Now, the map stone?"

"Right." He led them through the Glades, trying to take as straight of a path as he could, and carefully making note of landmarks he saw. Which, now that he was thinking about it... wasn't really anything at all. He was farther out of the way than he had initially thought he was.

They eventually reached more familiar terrain, and soon arrived at the map stone. "So, I guess I'll carve it out, then you'll just put some light into it?"

"Actually, I have an idea." He turned to them curiously. "We can agree that you're really far out of the way, right? Like, we're probably closer to the Spirit Tree right now than your home."

"Yeah? Why?"

"Well, I think that we should maybe make the area you made your home a new area of Nibel. As in, giving it it's own map stone and name."

He blinked. "I-seriously? I don't think it's that far."

"Those berries in your bag. Do they grow anywhere in the places on this map stone?"

He looked at the stone, carefully examining it and thinking about the various different places. "I... guess not."

"And they grow near your home?"

"Kinda. I don't think a single species of berry is enough to merit an entire new area, though."

"You are," they whisper, and he blushes hard. "Um, anyways, if you don't want to we don't have to. I just thought that it's at least a little unique from the rest of the Glades, and it's so far out of the way that it might not fit on the map stone."

He looked at the stone again, and thought about their walk from his home. He could probably fit it on, but it would be pretty tight. Maybe Sein was on to something after all. "Do you have any ideas for names?"

They floated in front of his face, glowing a bit brighter than usual. "How about 'Hope's Garden'?"

"That's... a little too poetic. It doesn't really fit with the other area's names." They dimmed a little. "But I like the 'Hope' part."

They hummed and floated around his head. "How about... 'Hope's Forest'?"

"Sein."

"Oh alright," they giggled, "Mmmm... is there anywhere there you consider important?"

He shrugged. "There's a stream where I've been getting water and the berries. Maybe 'Hope's Stream'?"

"Mmmm... not really feeling it. That's seriously the most important thing you can think of?" He shrugged. "Alright. How about 'Hope's Stump'?"

"After _my house?"_

"Sure! You're the first one to live there, and your house is a pretty recognizable point!"

"I dunno, it's a little too... egotistical for me."

They plopped onto his head. "This is getting nowhere."

"I have an idea." They both blinked and turned around, seeing Ku standing there.

Ori walked over and squatted slightly. "Ku? Where's Kuro? You're not alone, are you?"

"Mama's looking for you. Can I say my idea?"

He squinted. "Why is Kuro looking for me?"

"Naru told her you moved, and she wanted to know where exactly. Can I say my idea now?"

He chuckled slightly. "Well, I can show Kuro if you bring us to where she is." Ku just glared at him. "Is something wrong?"

"I wanna say my idea."

"Oh! Of course, I'm sorry. What is it?"

"Hope's Pursuit!"

He blinked, and Sein wavered a bit closer to Ku. "What makes you think that's a good name?" 

Ku turned to the orb with a smile. "Well, mama said that Ori moved to try and get something, and he's really really really hopeful, I thought it made sense!"

Ori hummed happily. "You know what Ku? I think that's a great name." She smiled at him and raised her wings. "Still... maybe getting Kuro's opinion would be helpful."

There was a sound of fluttering feathers, and Kuro suddenly landed next to them. "I agree."

"Mama!" She smiled at her daughter and welcomed her hug. "I found them! What do you think of my idea?"

"I think it's a wonderful idea. Though, I think 'Smelly spirit's poor life choices' is a better one." Ori glared at her, and she snickered. "Really Ori. I can understand you wanting to be more independent, but this is less of a first step and more of jumping off a cliff into the unknown." He humphed and looked away. "I didn't say I don't believe in you. You seem to be doing just fine."

"Well," Sein began, floating up to Kuro's eye level, "do you have any actual ideas?"

The owl hummed. "Well, if we're keeping the 'Hope' part... Hope's Orchard?" Ori's ears perked up.

Sein mulled over the name. "I don't know..."

"Actually, that kind of fits." The others turned to him. "Since the berries being unique to the area were part of why you wanted to make it an area of its own in the first place."

"That's not what an orchard is, Ori." Sein floated down to him. "An orchard has fruit trees, not berry bushes."

"Still, I like it," he smirked, "and since _I'm_ the one living there..."

"Alright, alright you dork." Sein floated over to the map stone. "We're going to need a piece of rock big enough to act as a map stone, if we want to make it its own area."

"I'm sure I can find one," Ori said.

"Nice. Then all we need for now is to carve out the path to it here on the map stone. Well, and the Spirit Tree's blessing, but I don't think he's gonna care much."

"Probably not," Kuro mused. Ori took to the map stone and started carving out the path to the newly dubbed orchard. Just a few lines, and he was good. Sein put some extra light into the rock, directing it into the crevices, and tinting it to mark it as a path to a separate area. "Now, Ori, would you be so kind as to bring us to your home? I'm sure the kids would quite like to know where you've moved to." Ku gave a cheer in agreement and hopped up and down on the spot.

"Yeah, sure! Just follow me."

* * *

Kuro looked at his small stump, which Ku was currently sitting inside of. "I must say, it's rather small."

"Yeah, I know," Ori replied, eating at his lunch. "But it works well enough."

"Fair enough. Ku, are you done? We need to get going home for lunch." The owlet whined in protest. "You're just going to get cranky later if you don't eat." She grumbled, but clambered onto her mother's back anyway. "My apologies you two, but we must get going. Don't want to be late for our own lunch."

"Of course," Sein said, while Ori just gave a wave and a smile. "See you later." The owl gave them goodbyes, and took off toward the Forlorn Ruins.

"You know," Ori said, swallowing his berry, "That's pretty much everyone that knows where I am now. Kuro and Ku can tell their family, you and the Spirit Tree both know, and Naru knows and said she was gonna tell Gumo. The only one I really have left to tell is Ginso."

"Oh, I can tell them for you," Sein offered. "If you want, of course."

"You'd do that?"

"Of course."

He smiled and hugged them tight. "Thanks Sein."

"No problem. Now, I actually should probably get back to the Spirit Tree. We might be getting some visitors from other lands soon, and he wants to be ready."

"Neat. Tell me if you need any help, okay?" They hummed an affirmative and floated off into the overgrowth, back to the Hollow Grove.

Ori finished up his lunch and stood up. That was everyone aware of his move, and he was part of the way through getting the area better mapped out. He might as well work on the insulation now.

It went the same as the previous day; he collected large sticks and leaves, bundled up the sticks with the leaves, then planted the covering as flush with his home as he could get it. He managed to finish another quarter of the insulation with the time he had left in the day, then left for the stream to refill his bag. He managed to fully refill the bag, and returned home with a happy heart. Today had been a good, productive day. Hopefully, tomorrow would be just as good.

* * *

He woke with a yawn, stretched, and ate breakfast. Yeah, he needed to get more options for food. These berries were starting to taste a little gross. Who knew eating only one thing for three days would make you sick of that thing? First though, he should finish the insulation.

He walked out of the stump and got to work. He went through the motions, and stopped a bit past noon to get lunch. He was nearly done with the insulation; it would definitely be finished today. He reached the stream and stopped. He could just get the usual berries, but he really was getting a little sick of them. He looked into the stream and saw something that caught his eye: fish. 

He crouched on all fours, and slowed his breathing as much as he could. A fish passed right in front of him, and he dashed forward, then bashed it out of the water and onto land. He waded out of the stream, and quickly stilled his slippery prize. It was only a single one, but it was pretty big, and better than just berries, berries, and more berries. He did eat some of said berries, however, and gathered enough for dinner and breakfast as well, before walking back to the stump with his bag and placing it down.

Now for the fish. He... didn't actually know how to cook it. Well, that was a problem. Maybe... he summoned a light burst, and hit the fish with it. Ah, that looked burnt. He touched it and recoiled, hissing slightly. Yep, burnt.

Well, there went that.

He hit the fish with a couple more light bursts until it was completely disintegrated. What else was there for him to eat? He wandered around for something, anything, so long as it was something to eat other than berries. There were nuts all over the place, but they weren't very filling. He could probably dig up some vegetables, but where? Last option was meat, but the fish was proof enough that he would need some help with cooking, and he was hesitant to ask for help. The whole point of this was to try and be more independent, after all. It was one thing to ask for help with a map or naming something. He shouldn't need to ask for help with feeding himself. Berries and nuts it was, at least for the time being.

He gathered up some nuts, and munched on them while he walked home. He got to finishing the insulation, and had it done by sundown. He lit his fire, and pushed some of the berries next to it. Once they were starting to brown a little, he took them away, and started eating; they were a little sweeter, and even easier to chew than they already were.

He looked out into the steadily darkening... Glades? Orchard? It didn't have its own map stone yet, so it probably still counted as part of the Glades. Not to mention, it wasn't an orchard, as Sein had said.

...Wait a minute. He smacked himself in the head. Orchard. Fruit trees. He could plant some fruit trees, both solving his problem of lacking food diversity and making the area live up to its name-to-be. But now it was too late; he'd have to do that tomorrow.

What else could he do? Well, there was still the matter of more bottles and a bigger bag, which he didn't know how to make. He had three options: try and figure out how to make the things himself, pay for help, or ask for help. He scratched the last one out immediately, seeing as it went against the whole point of this. Option one was likely to be impractical, inefficient, and could be dangerous. So, what could he pay for? And who _could_ he pay for help? Question two was answered easily enough: Gumo and Naru were the ones to make the bottle and bag respectively. But what could he pay them with?

He snuffed out the fire and walked inside, moving the door into place. Looking around, he noticed one thing of his that was of noticeable value: the berries. He had only found them in this part of the forest, and he hadn't found them anywhere other than near the stream. He could pay with those.

Mind made up and plans set for tomorrow, Ori settled down for sleep. Things weren't going _great,_ but they were changing. And change was exactly what he was looking for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No Ori, blowing your food up does not count as cooking it.


	3. Options

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Expand your horizons, small man.

Ori sat up and stretched, his tail flicking outward. He ate some berries for breakfast, hoped that his next breakfast wouldn't also be berries, and stepped out of his home. He went to the stream and filled his bag with berries, though he wasn't planning to eat these ones. Ori was going to go to Swallow's Nest, where he hoped to get three things: a bigger bag, fruit seeds, and a lesson on cooking, all of which Naru could provide him.

He set out for his old home, with very little urgency. To say he was nervous would be an understatement. He hoped that the berries would be enough payment; he didn't have many, and there were already plenty of berries in Swallow's Nest which Naru liked. Yet, maybe she would like these berries he found enough to at least trade them for some fruit seeds. They _were_ a little easier to eat than the berries in Swallow's Nest.

He slowed down once he saw the entrance to the cave. Was he ready for this? He thought he left on good terms with his mother, but maybe he had just not been paying enough attention to how she was feeling. A sudden dread crept up his spine, and he ran up to the cave. She was alright, right? She wasn't hurt? "Mom?"

"Ori?" Oh, thank goodness. He ran to the other end of the cave where she swept him up in a hug. "Oh, Ori! How are you?"

"Alright," he said, hugging her back. "I missed you."

"I missed you too. Now," she set him down, "what brings you here?"

"Oh, um, I was wondering if you have any fruit seeds?" She scratched her chin. "I can pay for them," he blurted out, pulling the bag off his back and showing her its contents. "Um, if this is enough."

Naru blinked at him for a moment, then laughed. "Oh, Ori. Put that down, alright?" He did as told, and she wrapped him up in a hug. "If you just need some seeds, then you don't have to _pay_ me for them, you silly. You can just ask."

He wriggled in her grasp. "But, isn't that how business or whatever works?"

"It's just some seeds, Ori. You could have just gone out to any random tree and gotten some," she chuckled, "which you're actually going to have to do, since I don't have any fruit seeds."

"Oh, okay. I also brought the berries to pay for something else too."

She smiled softly. "And that is?"

"I was wondering if you could maybe make me a bigger bag." She blinked at him again, before sighing and putting him down. "Mom?"

"Ori, is there any thing you were going to ask me to teach you how to do?"

"...Cooking?"

She sighed again and put her head in her hands. "Ori... I am so sorry."

His eyes widened, "what do you mean?"

"As your parent, I should have already taught you things like this," she put her hands on his shoulders, "please, Ori, if ever there's something like this comes up again, I want you to know that you can just ask me for help, alright? These are the sorts of things you shouldn't have to ask to learn. Promise?"

He blinked, then blinked again as tears formed at the edges of his eyes. "Okay. I promise." Naru smiled and patted his head, then stood up.

"Now, instead of just making you a bigger bag, I'm going to teach you how to sew. Take a seat, and give me a second to get some things." He did as instructed, sitting on a wooden bench Gumo had made a few weeks prior. She came over with a few different plants and tools, and showed him how to separate the plants into just the fibers that could be used for sewing and similar techniques. She then showed him how to connect the fibers together, and he spent a while working on the bag, occasionally making adjustments based on Naru's instruction.

"No, you want to be more gentle."

"Okay."

"Turn your hand a little more."

"Like this?"

"Exactly!"

A few hours later, and Ori held up his creation. It wasn't nearly as well made as the bag Naru had made for him-he could see some bits sticking out-but it was a little less than twice as big, and it was a bag. Exactly what he was looking for. Naru wrapped her arm around his back and patted him on the side. "See? You're a natural."

"Still not as good as you." She chuckled bashfully and rubbed the top of his head.

"Maybe one day you will be. Now, are you hungry?" His stomach responded for him. "Thought so. Time for lesson two!"

"Can we cook fish?" She looked at him curiously. "There's a stream near my house, and I wanna try catching and cooking some fish."

She smirked. "Let me guess, this is coming up because you did something silly?"

His ears flopped down and he blushed. "I... tried to cook a fish with a light burst." She laughed hard, stomach shaking. "It's not that funny!"

"Ori, you tried to cook a fish with a bomb!" He grumbled and crossed his arms. "Oh, don't worry Ori. How about I teach you how to cook fish another time? For now, how about I just teach you how to make some vegetable soup?" He pouted but nodded, and the two worked together to get everything they needed, Ori following Naru's instruction once more.

They stood at the edge of the lake next to the cave as they cleaned carrots, depositing them in a bowl next to them once they were thoroughly cleaned. Once the carrots were scrubbed clean, Naru picked up the bowl and led Ori into the cave. He started a small flame below a pot at her instruction, then came over to the table she was at. She showed him how to cut up the carrots, poured water and the carrots into the pot, and let them simmer. "Now, how long do you think we let them cook?"

"Um... twenty minutes?"

"Closer to fifty." His eyes widened, and she chuckled, sitting down at the table. "Takes a lot more time than you expected, huh?"

"Yeah." He sat down across from her and rocked back and forth on the ground. "How have you been?"

"Well, it's a lot lonelier, but aside from that it's been fine. I'm just glad that you're visiting, and that I can teach you these things that I already should have taught you so long ago."

"Better late than never." She snorted and rubbed his head, causing him to smile. "Say, where's Gumo?"

She frowned. "He's been... spending a lot of time in the Forlorn Ruins. He says that he wants to give his people a 'proper burial'."

"What do you think he's gonna do?"

"Nothing rash, I hope." She sighed and tapped the side of the table, then smiled softly. "How was moving?"

"Fine. I think I should have made a nest before a roof, but what's in the past is in the past."

Naru squinted. "Ori, you didn't spend the night sleeping on the ground, did you?" He looked away. "Ori, why didn't you just come sleep back here?"

"Because I want to be independent." He grabbed the edge of the table. "I want to prove that I can live on my own. That I'm grown up, and I'm not a child anymore."

"That doesn't mean you have to make yourself uncomfortable."

"I guess," he waved his hand, "but still. I... I want to do as much of this on my own as I possibly can."

Naru's eyes were filled with worry, but she just shook her head. "Alright. Please, though, don't push yourself too far."

"I won't. I promise."

"You say that so often," she remarked, "that you promise something."

"Because I do. And I always make good on my promises."

"And that worries me," she said. "I'm worried that one day you're going to promise something, and fulfilling that promise is going to take more than you're ready to give. It already happened once; it can happen again."

He grimaced at the reminder of what happened in Niwen. "I know. But I'm more careful now. I'll be fine."

"Will you?"

"I will. I-I'll try my best."

The worry in her eyes grew. "Ori, I don't think you understand what your best is."

"Of course I understand what my best is."

"Then let me rephrase that. I don't think you care about what your best is; just whether or not you can push yourself far enough to make good on some imaginary necessity that you made up in your head, a necessity that almost always ends with you getting hurt in some way."

He glares. "Mom, I'm fine."

"No, you're not." She stands up and checks the pot. "We've still got plenty of time to wait. How about we share some of those berries you brought?"

"...Okay." She looks at him, and his face is downcast, his ears folded low.

She sighs and walks over to him, putting her hands on his shoulders. "Ori, I don't mean that you're not okay in a bad way."

"Then what _do_ you mean?"

"I mean you're too loving. You're too trusting. You get too invested in others too quickly, and you're not willing to accept that not everyone in this world can be nice. There are some that just... refuse to change. Not because they're scared or nervous or anything, but because they're greedy. They want things that they don't deserve, and they're willing to take advantage of you to get what they want."

"...Do you think Seir was like that?"

She taps her chin. "...A little. But I think they were-are-more... unaware than they are bad. They don't realize the deeper parts of things; they see everything at surface level, and assume that that's all there is for them to worry about."

He's still staring at the floor. "Is there a point to this?"

Naru wraps him in a hug. "I want you to be more careful. It's going to take us all longer to realize when something's wrong, now that you're so far from everyone. We can't help you as quickly as we could before, and... I don't want that bit of time to be the difference between whether we can save you or not. I know you want to be independent, but I want to make sure you know that there's a difference between being independent and being alone, alright?"

"Alright, mom." She hugged him tight, and he hugged back. "...How much longer until the food's done?" Naru laughed and ruffled his head.

"Still a long while, Ori. It's going to take time."

He wriggled out of her grasp, and hopped up and down on his hooves. "Okay. Well, that was really depressing, so I'm gonna go jump in the lake." He dashed out of the cave and out towards said lake.

"Don't drown!"

"I won't!"

* * *

Ori carried the bottle full of carrot soup along with a pot in his hands while he walked home. They hadn't managed to finish all the soup, and Naru told him to take it home with him. As for the pot, she had insisted that he take it with him; she had a spare, and he would probably have trouble making one on his own. He had managed to get her to take the berries, though, so his bag was now empty and sitting inside of the bigger bag he had made.

He arrived home with slightly more than a third of the day left, but with unfortunately nothing that he could fill it with. Everything he wanted to do would take too long, and would need to have a full uninterrupted day devoted to it. He could probably just... wander around. He knew plenty about the area around his home, but he could always stand to further familiarize himself with it.

He arrived at his stump, and deposited all of his things in the corner. He looked around his home, trying to see if there was anything he could do with the time he had left in the day. It was a little dark inside; maybe he could carve out a small window? It might mess with the insulation, but he chose to keep it in mind, just in case. A second examination of the room failed to reveal any necessities he may have overlooked, though upon looking at the bags again, his mind strayed towards the issue of storage. Not a problem now, and it probably never would be, but if he had more room, he could have more visitors over, and store more food and water so he doesn't have to make as many trips. He definitely can't make an entire extension to the stump in the time he has today. He can, however, start on one.

He gathers a significant amount of large sticks and leaves, like the ones he used for the insulation and the door. He'd need some rope or something similar as well, but he could get that later. First off, he removed one of the insulators he had made where he wanted to put the extension. He placed it on the ground next to the stump so he could check its proportions, then moved it to the side and stuck sticks into the ground to make as close to an outline of the insulator as he could; he was sure to make the tops of the sticks as even as possible, so the roof would be stable. Once all the sticks were in place, Ori put the insulator back.

He now had three walls for the extension. There were still several things to do; the roof and fourth wall had to be put up, and the walls still had to be tied together with rope and covered with leaves. That would all have to wait for tomorrow, though, as the sun was going down. Ori pushed the left over materials into the half-finished extension, then got the carrot soup from his house.

He starts a fire and warms up the soup, drinking half of it and saving the second half for tomorrow's breakfast, fulfilling his wish of not having berries for his next breakfast. He was sat in front of the fire, staring out into the darkening forest. He only got two of his three objectives done today, but the issue of fruit seeds could be solved tomorrow, after he finished the outdoors extension.

The extension would be good for storing things; mostly just water and tools. He could get a basin to store water in, but what to make it out of? There was also the issue of getting a rock for the Orchard's map stone, and he was concerned about Gumo...

He shook his head. One thing at a time; tomorrow, he would finish the extension, then travel around Nibel to get some fruit seeds. If he had time left over after that, he could start on one of his next concerns.

He snuffed out the fire, and walked into his stump. He put the soup away, and curled up in his nest, drifting to sleep with the help of the forest's gentle breeze.


	4. At the core

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Small man, put the past to rest, and let the future grow from its ashes.

Ori's tail flicks as he snorts. His eyes slowly open while he groans, and he stretches his arms out. The sun is higher in the sky than usual; he must have slept in.

He has the rest of his carrot soup for breakfast, and holds the empty bottle in his hands for a moment. He walks outside to look at the half made extension to the stump. It's honestly the least urgent thing he's working on, whereas getting fruit seeds and having something to eat other than berries are decently important. Not to mention checking up on Gumo.

His mind made up, he grabs his bigger bag and sets out towards the stream. He fills up his bottle with water, and grabs some berries(ugh) for lunch. He'll search for both seeds and vegetables at the same time, and his first stop is in the Sunken Glades proper.

Even if it wasn't the area closest to him, the Glades would still be the reasonable first place to search. There's no shortage of area to explore, and no shortage of space that could hide what he's looking for. Based on the sun's position, he estimated that he only spent a total of one, maybe one and a half hours in the Glades; yet, his bag was already half full with fruits and vegetables of all kinds. He had potatoes, carrots, apples and more, including some things he didn't even know the name of. He now had two options: go put the things he had away, then continue, or try and fill the bag further.

...Actually, there was a third option. Checking up on Gumo. He was concerned about the last of the Gumon, to say the least. What did 'a proper burial' entail in his friend's eyes? Gumo wasn't exactly self-destructive, nor was he prone to misplaced guilt, but this sort of behavior was extremely uncharacteristic of him. Why wait so long to do this? Had he not had something necessary? If so, what was it, and when had he gotten it? If not, then what else could have caused him to wait so long? There was something off about this whole situation, and the longer Ori thought about it, the more and more worried he became.

He ran to the Spirit Well as fast as he could, and warped directly to the Forlorn Ruins. "Gumo?" He called out for his friend. Nothing. He ran towards the Element. "Gumo?" Silence. His heart started to pick up as he dashed to the entrance. "Gumo?"

"Ori?" His eyes widened, and he looked out. Gumo was walking over, and Ori rushed over to him, slamming into him with a hug. "Ori, calm down. Is something wrong?"

"You're not gonna hurt yourself, right?" Gumo's eyes widened in shock. "Naru told me that you were spending a lot of time here, and that you wanted to give your people 'a proper burial', but we don't know what that's supposed to mean, and I got really concerned, and I-"

"Calm down, Ori, calm down!" He returned the spirit's hug, patting him softly on the back. "Oh, I'm so sorry that I had you worried. I've been moving some things out of the ruins and down to my hideout, and it's just been taking a while. I would have checked in if I knew you were so worried."

"Well, what about the burial thing?"

Gumo frowned. "I was going to burn down the ruins."

Ori's mouth hung open in shock. "Burn down-why! Why would you burn them down! How is that a proper burial?"

Gumo walked into the ruins, Ori following right behind. "Look around you, Ori. They're entombed in ice, stuck forever. I can't just seal it up, or collapse the place. It needs to burn, Ori. It's the only way to set them free."

The spirit takes in his surroundings. "I... I guess so." He lets out a breath, then looks Gumo in the eyes defiantly. "But we're getting some help! Phoenix's whole thing is fire and healing, so he can help us!"

Gumo shook his head. "I would like to do this on my own."

"No!" The Gumon looks at Ori's glare in surprise. "No! You shouldn't be doing this alone! We're your friends, and-and-" Ori took a couple deep breaths, then spoke again in a quieter voice. "And this is our responsibility. Phoenix vowed to help others heal. My purpose is to help the inhabitants of the forest. This is our duty."

Gumo patted Ori's shoulder sadly. "Ori, you're purpose is whatever you chose it to be."

"And this _is_ what I choose it to be." He stood tall, fists clenched. "This isn't the sort of thing you should do alone. I would know."

The last Gumon stood still for a moment. "...Alright. I guess I'll accept your help." Ori smiled and hugged him again, bringing a chuckle from the dark-furred being. "I still have a lot of stuff to bring down to my hideout, though."

"Then I'll help you." The spirit tilted his head. "Though, why not bring them to Swallow's Nest?"

Gumo thought for a few seconds. "I... well, good point!" They laughed together at his forgetfulness. "There are some things which I think should go down to my hideout, though. Mostly just really specific stuff."

"That's fair." Ori bounced on his hooves. "I'm gonna go get Phoenix, alright?"

"Sure."

* * *

Phoenix sighs and gives Gumo an incredulous look. "You do realize that the melting ice would make water, which would put out the fire, right?"

The spindly creature throws his arms in the air. "Look, I wasn't thinking that far into the future."

_"Gumo."_

"No arguing!" Ori hauled a green metal box twice his size into the air, holding it above his head. "Where does this go?"

"That can go to the Nest. It's just got some plant samples in it." Ori nodded and ran out of the Ruins towards Swallow's Nest.

"What in the world..." Phoenix muttered. "How is he so strong?"

"No idea," Gumo replied. "Probably in part due to the Spirit Link, though."

"Kuro mentioned that," the fire bird said, grabbing a few boxes in his talons and moving them to the Ruin's entrance. "Something about his body being all twisted and messed up?"

"Not really messed up. We're pretty sure his body's almost entirely light, so he has crazy endurance and strength, not to mention that he doesn't have most of his organs."

"Weird."

"Yeah," he peeked into a box, then dragged it to the entrance. "But it doesn't seem to have any downsides in his day to day life, so we don't really worry too much about it."

Phoenix's eyes scrunched up as he carefully lifted a strange machine. "Didn't it cause some complications with Niwen's Spirit Tree? Something about him losing basically all of his memories and having to get them back?"

"Oh yeah, that. I wasn't really involved in that, and Kuro's pretty cagey about it. Sein or the Spirit Tree are probably your best bet for more information on whatever happened." The fire bird grunted in recognition, and placed the machine down. "So, how have you been adjusting to being a father?"

"Fine. Honestly thought that being a parent would be... I don't know. More confusing, I guess." He chucked weakly. "Though, Kuro's experience has really helped."

"Give yourself some credit. You're a lot less overprotective than Kuro is."

"I guess. Hey, what's this?"

Gumo turned his head to look at the fire bird, who was holding a small, black, rectangular box. "Oh, that's an information storage device. Or, as I like to call them, an 'Iced'." He chuckled. "Get it?"

The bird rolled his eyes. "Hilarious. What's in it?"

"Probably just some data sets or something," he muttered, searching through a cabinet.

Ori returned a few minutes later, having dropped off the box at Swallow's Nest. "Heya. Anything left?"

Gumo hummed happily, and waved at the pile sitting at the Ruin's entrance. "That's all we have to move. I already had most of the stuff brought down to the hideout before you got here."

"Neat." Ori picked up a box similar to the one he had dropped off, though this one was purple. "Where does this go?"

"Hideout. Give us a second, we can probably get everything to the appropriate places in one trip if we're smart about this." The three worked together to sort some things out, and eventually reached an arrangement that allowed for Phoenix to carry everything that needed to go to Swallow's Nest, and Gumo and Ori to carry everything that needed to go to the hideout. The three agreed to meet back at the Ruins once they were done, then split off, Ori and Gumo walking while Phoenix flew. It took about an hour for Gumo and Ori to get to the hideout, drop everything off, and get back, due to Gumo being so much slower than Ori. Once they returned, it was to the night sky and Phoenix sitting in front of the Ruins silently. "So. I guess it's time."

"It is," the fire bird murmured, turning to the Ruins. "Are you both ready?" They nodded. "Then stand back."

Phoenix rose into the sky, and his wings glowed gold. Extreme heat began to radiate off his body, as blue flames began to coalesce in front of his beak, while regular red flames surrounded his wings. With a mighty flap and a screech, he sent them all flying down upon the Ruins.

The flames spread quickly, despite having next to nothing that would typically fuel them. They burned through the ice, and were unhindered by the water that it melted into. Within mere minutes, the flames consumed the entirety of the building, eating away at everything within. It took only a quarter of an hour before they faded, and Phoenix gave the all clear to enter the Ruins.

When Gumo and Ori walked in, it was to find the place completely empty. Thought the ground and everything else non-organic remained, every single body had seemingly vanished. Finally, the Gumon had been put to rest.

"I can not thank you two enough," Gumo said with a nod. "I'm... I don't know. Happy that they've all been put to rest, sad that they're gone in the first place." He sighed and shook his head. "Thank you. I am forever in your debt."

"You don't owe us anything," Ori muttered, hugging him. "This is what friends do." Phoenix hummed and smiled.

"Still," Gumo insisted, hugging back. "If you ever need help with making something, please don't hesitate to ask." Both of them nodded in acknowledgement. "Now, we should probably all get going home."

"True. I'll see you two some other time." Phoenix took off to Kuro's Nest, Gumo and Ori waving goodbye.

Ori pulled away from hugging his friend. "You going back to Swallow's Nest?"

"Yep," the true last Gumon said. "You going back to your home?"

"...I was thinking of maybe spending the night at the Nest myself. I really missed you and Naru. Plus, there is actually something I could really use your help with." The spirit laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head.

Gumo just chuckled. "Then let's get going, and you can tell me in the morning, yeah?" Ori nodded, and the two of them set off for Swallow's Nest.

* * *

Ori sat up and stretched, noticing he was raised off the ground. Right, he had spent the night in Swallow's Nest.

Naru and Gumo were already up and sitting at the table, talking while something cooked. Ori hopped out of his old nest and walked over to them, sitting at the table with a yawn. "Morning."

"Good morning," Naru said, rubbing his head. "We're having vegetable soup for breakfast, and it's almost done. Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah," he muttered, leaning against her. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes, "Did you?"

"Yes, I did," she replied with a smile.

Gumo cleared his throat, getting their attention. "Ori, you said last night you needed my help with?"

"Nope," Naru interrupted, "no talk of any sort of work or business until we've all got something in our stomachs." Gumo looked to Ori, who just shrugged.

Once the soup was done-potato and carrot-and they had all eaten, Gumo asked his question again. "Oh, right." Ori sat up and wiped his mouth of soup. "I'm trying to build an extension to my house. It's pretty small, and I'm gonna use it for storing stuff, probably just water and tools."

Gumo nodded. "That's a good idea. You ready to go?"

"Wait you two." They turned to Naru, who was grabbing a bag. "I'm coming too. I know that you were going to plant some fruit trees, Ori, and I'm going to help with that."

"You don't have to do that, mom."

"I know," she said, "but I want to." Ori squirmed, and she swept him up. "No buts. We can do this faster with three of us." Ori sighed, but relented. She was right, and he knew it. "Now let's get going." Ori grabbed his bag from his old nest, Gumo grabbed some tools, and the group set off.

They walked through the Glades, and Ori led the way through the Orchard to his home. Once they arrived, Ori deposited the vegetables and non-tree fruits he had collected. He gives the bag of tree-based fruit and his partially emptied water bottle to Naru, and the three split up.

Naru wanders around the Orchard, removing the seeds from the fruits. She stays within sight of Ori's stump, however, in order to avoid risking getting lost. She digs small holes, then puts a fruit seed in each one, before covering it up and lightly watering it. She doesn't manage to exhaust the entire bag, but she trusts that Ori will be able to finish it himself.

Ori travels out into the Orchard for two reasons. The first is to collect the remaining materials Gumo and he would need to finish the extension. The second was to simply further explore and familiarize himself with the area, and hopefully find a rock suitable for a map stone. He really needed to get on that.

Gumo picked up where Ori had left off with the extension, beginning work on the fourth wall. This wall was shorter than the one parallel to it, as this wall would be the one to have the door. He built the wall the same way Ori had, then went about tying each of the four walls together, so they would better stay in the ground. Finally, he wrapped leaves around the walls, to form some minor insulation and cover up as many cracks as possible.

Ori returned with more than enough materials to build the roof, though he hadn't found any suitable rocks yet. He accepted the bag of seeds and the now empty bottle from Naru, and put them away. The three then worked together to make the roof. It was made the same way as the walls had been-tying together sticks, then wrapping them up with leaves. It was slightly larger, in order for it to lie on top of the walls. Once the roof was made, the three carefully lifted into place, then Gumo connected the roof to the walls using a hammer and nails. Finally, Ori made a second layering of leaves to cover up any remaining holes, like with the roof of the stump itself. Once he was done, he hopped down and brushed his hands off. "Well. That's that done."

"Ori, you still need to put up a door." He blushed at his mother's reminder, and quickly made the door himself, insisting that the other two let him do it alone.

"You guys have already done so much to help me," he explained. "I wanna do this last part on my own." Naru and Gumo both chuckled, but didn't stop him. He worked as fast as he could, and soon had a second door, laying it in place.

"Well, I'd say this was a productive day," Naru exclaimed. "How about we all go home and have some soup for lunch?"

"I'm actually gonna stay here, if that's okay." Naru and Gumo looked to Ori. "I want to finish up with planting the seeds, and there's something else I want to do around here too."

"Well then, good luck," Naru said, and hugged her son, who hugged back. "It was nice to spend some time with you."

"It really was," Gumo remarked. "And thank you for helping me with the thing at the Ruins."

"It's no problem. Thank you both for helping me out today." They both nodded, and with that, they departed back to Swallow's Nest.

Ori ducked into his stump and had himself a quick lunch of seedless fruit. Once he was done, he ran to the stream, refilled his bottle with water, and began planting the seeds around as much of the Orchard as he could. He ran out of seeds quickly enough, and spent the rest of the day looking for a rock to make the map stone out of.

It was nearly sundown, and he was having no luck whatsoever. Ori stood on the spot and looked up to the darkening sky with a groan. "At this rate, I'm gonna have to ask Kuro for help..." He tapped his hoof, looking around the forest one last time.

...Actually, the thing he was tapping his hoof against sounded a lot like a rock.

He leaned down and swept away the leaves around him. Sure enough, he was standing on a rock, and it seemed to be a big one. He swept away more of the leaves, eventually uncovering the entirety of the rock's top. It was about as long as three of him lying down, and almost as wide. That was _definitely_ big enough for a map stone.

He began digging away at the ground at one edge of the rock. It took him awhile to make progress, and he spent most of the time working with only the moonlight. His efforts paid off, however, as he eventually reached a point where the rock began to grow smaller. He had dug nearly as deep as he was tall. This was absolutely big enough.

He grabbed onto the lip of the rock and lifted with all his might, hefting the rock up and out of the ground. He got under it, as close to the middle as he could, and charge jumped in order to get out of the newly formed hole. He looked around for the way home, and ran as fast as he could in the direction of the stump once he found it.

Once he got home, he put the rock down outside; no way was it going to fit through either door. He looked up to find that the moon was nearing its peak. He had stayed out for much too long. He got what he was looking for, though, so it was worth it.

...Okay, maybe the ache in his arms wasn't worth it. Still!

He had a few fruits left, so he just downed those. He'd have to make vegetable soup for breakfast tomorrow. That was fine, though; he liked vegetable soup. Once he had eaten all of the fruit remaining, he curled up in his nest. Tomorrow, he'd get that map stone set up. Tonight, it was time for a well deserved rest.


	5. Explore

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lead the way for the past to join the present, small man.

Ori idly pushes another stick into the small fire, waiting for his soup to finish. Only a few more minutes of nature's quiet hum before he can have his breakfast.

His ears perk up as he hears another quiet hum approaching, one not belonging to nature, yet that he knows just as well. Sein floats into sight, and he greets them with a wave. "Heya. What're you doing out here?"

"Can't I want to spend some time with you?" He giggles as they float into his lap.

"You can, but I know you would never get up so early if it weren't important."

"Guilty as charged," they laugh. "Just wanted to check up on how the map stone was coming along."

"Well, as you can see," he motioned to the large rock in front of his house, "the stone part is finished. The map, on the other hand, needs some work."

"Evidently. You gonna work on it today?"

"Yeah, right after I have breakfast." Speaking of breakfast, he snuffs out the fire. Now, he just needs to give it some time to cool. "I'm gonna have to explore more of the Orchard first, though."

"Want some help?"

"I can't ask you to do that..."

"Yeah, actually, you can." He scrunched up his face and poked them. "Seriously, Ori. I haven't seen you in four days. I miss you."

"...You do?"

"Of course I do," they said, floating on top of his head. "Why wouldn't I?"

He hesitated, then chuckled. "I dunno. I'm sorry for not visiting."

"Don't worry. But please, remember that you can be independent without being alone." Ori hummed in acknowledgement.

"Thanks." He pulled them off of his head, and kissed their top. "Hey Sein."

"Yes?"

"Dork."

"Don't be a hypocrite." He giggled and hugged them tight. "Is the soup cooled yet?"

"Should be." He pours the soup into his bottle, and grabs his bag from in his home. "Ready?"

"Absolutely."

They set off into the Orchard, treading deep into parts unexplored. Ori takes sips from the bottle every once in a while, paying heavy attention to his surroundings, memorizing every twist and turn of the forest floor. Sein, on the other hand, just floats around his head, humming happily. "Hey, why is it so calm out here?"

"No clue," the spirit replied. "It's nice, though. Keeps me from getting distracted."

"I bet." They floated a little higher, light brightening slightly. "Hey, what's that?"

The spirit looks ahead, and sees some chunks of stone littering the ground. "Ummm... rocks. Those are rocks, Sein."

"I-I know they're rocks, you dork! There's something odd about them, though." As they approach, the oddity makes itself readily obvious: the rocks seem to have carvings upon them. "See, what is that? Drawings?"

"I dunno. Doesn't look like any language I've seen. Maybe we can try to piece them back together."

"It's worth a shot. Here, I think this bit goes on the outside." They hovered over a particular piece which was oddly smooth on one side.

"Probably. This one looks like it might connect to that one..." Sure enough, the two pieces' cracks lined up pretty much perfectly. The two repeated this process for the remainder of the pieces, until they were left with a full picture lain on the ground.

"What in the world..." Ori muttered. "What _is_ that?"

"I have no clue," Sein admitted, sounding just as dumbfounded as Ori felt. The full stone tablet was almost as wide and long as Ori was tall, and illustrated... something. It seemed to be emerging from water, and had four tentacles, two to each side of its main body. Said body looked like nothing either of them had ever seen. Its lower half was similar to a spirit's, but where a spirit would have had arms, this instead had strange pincer like appendages. Its head was abnormal as well, as the creature had ten eyes-five on each side of the head-and did not have a readily visible mouth. The head was also oddly angular, though the tablet gave no further details on any part of the creature's body. "Hey, what's that tablet even made out of? Is it even stone?"

Ori closely examines the tablet. He tapped it a few times. "No, I don't think it's stone. I can't tell what it is, though."

"Well... lick it." He looked at them exasperatedly. "Come on, do it! What's the worst that could happen?"

"It could be something extremely poisonous when digested."

"...Alright, but you'll come back with the Spirit Link."

"What if it's painful?"

"That's a good point..." They floated down to the tablet. "Whatever that thing is, it looks like it's coming out of water, and it looks decently aquatic. So, our current questions: who made this tablet, what is it made of, what is the creature it's depicting, and what is something depicting something seemingly aquatic doing in a forest?"

"That is... a lot of questions. Are there any things we do know?"

"Well... not really. No one's ever explored this part of the forest before, so who know how old the thing is. I've never seen a creature that looks even remotely like that thing. The tablet only shows the creature, so we have no point of reference for the creature's actual size-"

"Okay, I get it. We know literally nothing, and talking about this more will only make us more confused. Here, I've got the path back here memorized, so why don't we go back to the stump and just work on the map stone and hang out for the rest of the day? Tomorrow, we can focus on this thing."

"That makes enough sense," Sein replied. The two turned around and began walking back to the stump. They suddenly chuckled. "Let's just hope it doesn't mysteriously fuse back together overnight."

* * *

"Oh you _must_ be kidding."

Sure enough, when they returned the next day, it was to find that the broken pieces had fully fused back together. "This just went from weird to flat out creepy," Sein said, minor panic slipping into their voice. "What in the world is going _on?"_

Or just shrugged. "I dunno. Hey, wanna try asking Kuro for help?"

"I dunno, she'll probably just figure that we're playing some practical joke on her or something."

"Seriously? Are we talking about the same Kuro or not?"

_kuro_

Both of them jumped into the air at the sound, which seemed to echo in their heads. Ori moved closer to Sein. "You heard that, right?"

"Someone saying 'Kuro' in my head? Yeah, yeah I did hear that."

_Kuro_

This time, the voice seemed to come from an actual direction, instead of just being within their minds. Ori turned slightly and looked down at the stone tablet. "...Hello?"

_Kuro_

"Yes, we know Kuro," he said. "Do you?"

_Yes_

"That's good to know," Sein said, floating up to the slab. "Do you have a name?"

The rock was silent for a moment. All of a sudden, all of nature's sounds seemed to cease at once, as some sort of immense pressure pushed out of the tablet. _Leviathan_

Sein floated back uncomfortably. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you... Leviathan. Quick question: can you please stop doing whatever you're doing?" The wind returned, as birds chirped and the pressure disappeared. "Thank you."

_Where is Kuro_

"Oh, she's probably at her nest," Ori commented. "Over near the Forlorn Ruins."

_Forlorn Ruins?_

"Oh, it's this super cold place which has a cool magic thing in it that controls all of the winds in Nibel."

_Strange._

"Maybe to you." He sat down and looked at the carving. "But you're strange to us. We've never seen anything like you before."

_Understandable. There are none others like me._

"Well... what are you?"

_I am The Beast Below The Waves._

"Never heard of you. Also, if you're supposed to be 'below the waves', then why are you in a forest? And why are you a rock?"

_...It is quite embarrassing. It has to do with how I know Kuro._

"Come on, I'm sure it's not that bad!"

Sein flew in front of the spirit's face. "Ori, this is Kuro we're talking about."

"...Still! It can't be _that_ bad!"

_Very well. Long ago, I believed myself the mightiest of the world's creatures. Yet, I desired even greater strength. In order to achieve this, I sought Kuro out for the gift of power she gives. She refused, claiming me unworthy. Enraged, I attacked her, and she retaliated by cursing my soul to this stone, shattering it, and dropping its pieces here. She has come here on rare occasion to tell me of things that have transpired within the outer world._

"Well, that seems like a bit of an extreme punishment," Ori muttered. "Hey, I've got an idea! Do you have your memories of what you're body was like?"

_Yes, I do. I do not see what they could possibly do, however._

"Wait, Ori," Sein said, realizing his plan. "Are you sure about this? Kuro's judgement of others is usually pretty good..." He smirked and whispered something to them. "Oh. Oh, okay, then yeah. Let's do this." The spirit nodded and picked up the tablet effortlessly.

_What. How._

"Don't question it," Sein sighed. "Just don't."

* * *

"Ack."

Ori let out a sigh, the Spirit Link fading. "Welp. How's it feel to be back in your body?"

The aquatic creature looked at his obnoxious grin from within one of the Thornfelt Swamp's many lakes. "I am tiny." It was true; from the front of his face to the tips of his tentacles, his length was only just over half Ori's height.

"Yep! Now you can't use your strength to hurt anyone."

"I was not going to."

"No sense in leaving it up to chance," Sein quipped. "Besides, Kuro hasn't said anythi-"

There was a veritable explosion of black feathers, and said owl suddenly appeared behind them. **"Who has-** oh." She took one look at the tiny sea creature and immediately burst out laughing. "Oh-Oh my! What in the world, this is a much better punishment than the one I used!"

"Please let me go."

"Nah," Ori said, folding his arms behind his head.

"You are all awful." The creature receded below the water with a small grumble, and went about trying to catch some fish-a task he was failing miserably at, as he was unused to just how less of a size advantage he now had on them. The three on the ground watched him struggle for several minutes, before Ori finally took pity on the aquatic being and dived into the waters to teach him how to use his smaller size to his advantage.

"So," Sein began. "Another one of your past lovers?"

The owl scoffed. "Only in his wildest dreams. No, he was just an overconfident jerk that sunk ships and generally was pretty awful. I was going to give him a lighter punishment-probably just chaining him to a small area for a couple hundred years-but then he went ahead and attacked me, so I turned him into a rock." She grinned nefariously. "I must say though, this is a much more fitting punishment."

"Of course it is. We're _way_ smarter than you." They yelped in shock as Kuro lightly batted at them with her wing.

"Silence, fool. My will is absolute and unchangeable." She held a serious expression for all of three seconds, before breaking down in laughter. "Can you believe that I actually used to talk like that once?"

"Nope, not really. Things do change with time, though." They looked into the water, where Leviathan was slowly making progress in adjusting to his size, with Ori's help.

"Very true," the owl mused. "Speech changes, creatures change, cultures change. Everything changes, and it is important that we understand that." She grinned. "To be honest, his sentence was almost up. Only a few more years, and I would have returned him to the ocean in his full size."

"That might not have ended well, though."

"True, true." The owl mused, "even if we change, it can be tempting to fall back into bad mindsets, just because they are familiar. Sometimes, a more permanent change is required."

"Yeah," Sein snorted, "like turning someone from a terror of the ocean to the size of a baby spirit."

"Exactly." She ruffled her feathers. "Now, if you two come across anything like this in any future adventures, please tell me first so I don't panic and fly away from teaching my children how to preen themselves."

"Of course, provided that I get exclusive access to Ku's first fashion line." The owl snickered and took flight, leaving just as quickly as she had arrived.

Sein looked out into the lake, where Ori was having a detailed discussion on hydrodynamics or whatever. They sighed and settled down onto the ground.

The map stone was never going to get done, was it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love taking abilities in games and bringing them to their logical endpoint.


	6. Loose end

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finish up the stone already, small man.

Ori rose with a yawn, a shiver running through his body as the morning sun greeted him. "Soup," he muttered.

He walked outside, quickly getting his breakfast cooking, then sat against his house to wait. He wouldn't do so alone, however, as a hum soon neared, heralding Sein's arrival. "Good morning Ori!"

"Soup," he said blearily.

"Didn't sleep well?" He grumbled, and let them fall into his lap. "Do you need a nap?"

"What I need is soup." He poked the fire with a stick. "But first I have to wait."

"Such is the tragedy of soup." He giggled, and they shone a little brighter. "So. Since the stuff with Leviathan got in the way the last two days, are we actually going to finish the map stone today?"

"Yeah, I guess." He placed the stick in the fire. "Sure has taken a while."

"Look on the bright side. Since we're the ones filling it in, we can leave all the best spots off the map so only we know about them."

He snorted and poked them. "Sein, that's rude. We should share nature's beauty with everyone."

"Oh, alright. But only because you said so." He smiled and rubbed their top, the two relaxing in the early morning breeze.

Several minutes later, Sein nudged Ori. He opened one eye slightly. "Yes?"

"Just making sure you didn't fall asleep. Don't want your soup to burn."

He laughed. "Sein, I slept fine. I'm just hungry."

"Alright, just checking."

"Well, thank you." They hum, and the two go back to relaxing.

Once the soup eventually finishes and cools, Ori pours it into his bottle, and the two set off into the Orchard. They wander around for a few hours, walking around the woods. Ori stares up into the sky, and smiles. "Sure is nice out today."

"Yep," Sein replies, "Not as nice as you, though." He blushes and stutters over his words for a few seconds as they giggled.

"Don't-don't distract me." They hummed happily and continued to float around his head.

They continued on their way through the Orchard, occasionally pointing out things of interest to each other, such as discolored trees, rare berries, and closely clustered trees. There was plenty to see, and Ori did his best to commit it all to memory, so he could record it on the map stone when they got back. They explored for a good few hours, and Ori eventually finished his soup. "Was it good?"

"Yeah, I like carrots."

Sein hummed slightly. "I thought you liked fruits more."

"Meh. Some days are fruit days, some days are vegetable days."

"Ah, yes," they giggled. "Just as some days are cloudy and some days are sunny, some days are for fruits and some days are for vegetables."

"And some days are for teasing Ori," he grumbled, earning another giggle from them. "Come on, let's go back. I think we've seen pretty much everything, and we can fill in the edges some other time. I just wanna get this thing out of the way and never worry about it again."

"Absolutely," they agreed. And with that, the two returned to the stump, their walk back being happily uneventful.

Ori started on carving out the remainder of the map stone, with Sein's occasional suggestions and reminders. "I thought that trail was longer."

"No," he pointed above it, "that was this one."

"Oh yeah." He etched out the remainder of the path he was working on, then scratched in a few more small lines. "What about right here?" They floated in front of one of the lines' ends. "Wasn't there a hill here?"

"Hmmm... yeah, good catch." He extended the line as was appropriate. "Anything else?"

They do a quick scan of the rock. "No, everything else looks good so far." He hums and scratches out a few more lines and marks.

"And... done." He finished the last line, and stepped back. The stone had been barren a few days before, yet now it held a detailed map of the entirety of the Orchard, including pathways to other areas of Nibel.

"At long last," Sein said, dripping light into the various small crevices. "How in the world did this take so long?"

"Mostly just having more urgent things to do. Like you said though, the stuff with Leviathan did get in the way too."

"Well, whatever. It's finished now, we just need to choose a place to put it." They stopped for a moment. "Actually, this is the only landmark in the Orchard. Maybe we should just keep it here."

"What were you saying?" They turned to Ori, who had already picked up the rock. "Something about landmarks?"

"...Ori, put the rock back down." He grinned sneakily, but did as told. "So... we've still got a little sunlight left in the day. What do you wanna do now?"

He tapped his chin and hummed. "I dunno. Wanna just... relax? Lay on the big rock and hang out?"

"Sounds good to me." Ori hopped onto the map stone and laid on his back, Sein floating down onto his chest. "You know, sometimes I question why we do this."

"Do what?"

"Just... this. Just relax. Why does it feel good to do nothing? Shouldn't it feel bad?"

He hummed quietly. "Well, I think that sleeping really isn't enough for us to get all the stress of each day away. Sure, we could sleep longer, but that would be a little dreary. Sometimes, just letting nature over take you can be healthy."

"...You just made that up, didn't you?"

"Of course I did." They both giggled, and Sein bopped against his nose.

"Dork."

He smirked. "Don't be a hypocrite, Sein."

"Oh, how the tables have turned against me," they said dramatically, rising into the air. "Woe is me, to be slain by my own words! Truly, it is the greatest of travesties."

He snickered and reached out to hug them. "If you die from this most fatal of injuries I've delivered upon you, who gets all of your stuff?"

"I don't _have_ any stuff, you dork." They floated down into his arms and let him wrap them in a hug. "I'm a floating ball, what would I do with anything?"

"I dunno, take over the world?"

They scoffed dramatically. "I don't need any stuff to do that."

"Of course you don't. You've got me at your every beck and call." He giggled as their light flickered sporadically. "Heh, though I'd probably lose to Kuro."

"Implying that she'd try to stop you."

"She totally would!" He flung his arms in the air. "There's not supposed to be one ruler of the entire world! That's irresponsible!"

"Oh, and I'm sure that you've gained an incredible understanding of responsibility." He puffed his cheeks out and let his arms fall to his sides. "I'm not joking. Well, I'm partially joking. But not entirely!"

"Yeah, yeah."

"I'm not!" They floated up and bopped his forehead. "Smooch."

He broke out in a fit of giggles. "Was-was that-was that supposed to be a kiss?"

"...Yes." 

He laughed and wrapped them up in a hug, kissing their top. "Dork!"

"I thought we already had this discussion." He snickered and exhaled deeply. This was nice.

* * *

Ori rose with a yawn and a stretch. What in the world was he going to do today? He... didn't really know.

Well, he needs to eat breakfast. Today's is some berries he collected once Sein left the previous day. The berries still tasted a little off from how much he had been eating them, but having soup to eat instead was definitely helping. His ears perked as his senses starting escaping the fog of sleep, and he looked outside to find that it had started to rain in the middle of the night. Not too heavily, but the skies were a cool grey, coated by clouds.

"Guess I don't need any plans for today," he muttered to himself. He checked his bags, and thanked himself for thinking to fill them both. He still had a bit of soup left over from yesterday as well-he could have berries dipped in soup for lunch, then he could have the remaining vegetable chunks with berries for dinner. With any luck, the rain would clear up by tomorrow morning-he would have enough food to last tomorrow as well, but another day of nothing but berries would likely not help him like them more.

Now, what could he do for the day? He could just go back to sleep, which would actually be nice; he always fell asleep better when it was raining. The roof was effectively blocking out the rain, though he could see some leaves slipping a bit. Hopefully that wouldn't become a problem. He opened the door fully, watching happily as the rain went pretty much straight down. Not much wind-that was good. He grabbed his pot and placed it just outside, so he could collect some water to drink. He knew from asking Ginso that Nibel's rains were just as clear as its many lakes, rivers and streams.

Laying down in his nest, he began to tap his fingers together. He didn't really know what he was going to do once the rain stopped. He could still stand to get another bottle or two, but that probably wouldn't take a full day.

...He could just go back to how he lived. Living each day in stride, hanging out with his friends and family, and having fun. He was set up well enough for now, and he could tackle winter once it came knocking. But that felt... off. Was he growing distant from everyone else? He certainly hoped not, but it was definitely possible. The thought unnerved him-maybe he'd moved too far. Maybe he hadn't really been ready for this, and it had just seemed like he was.

There was a quiet fluttering of feathers, and he stuck his head out of the stump. Gliding down from the sky was Ku. "Ori!"

"Ku? What are you doing out here? Why aren't you at home? You're not alone, are you?"

"Mom brought me most of the way here, but I got her to let me fly the rest of the way on my own!" She puffed out her feathers and smiled. "Aren't I grown up?"

He rubbed her head with a chuckle. "Yes Ku, you're very grown up. Now, come in before you get sick!" He ushered her into the stump, and sat down in his nest. "Once again, what are you doing out here?"

She ruffled her feathers a bit and settled down, looking sort of like a feathery dark blob. "I wanted to visit you! You're so far out from everyone else, I didn't want you to get lonely!" He blinked.

"That's very nice of you Ku, but I'm fine. Also, you really should have, I don't know, asked before visiting." She chirped, embarrassed at her lack of foresight. "Don't worry about it. How long are you gonna stay?"

"My mom said she would pick me up at noon, but I kind of wanted to sleep over. If that would be okay!" He sighed.

"Ku, as much as I'd love for you to be able to sleep over, I only have one nest. I'm sorry." Her face became a bit downcast, but she quickly smiled.

"Don't worry! It's my fault for not asking you before coming over! I'll be sure to be more careful next time!"

He smiled softly and patted her head. "Good to know." His ears perked up as he heard a familiar buzzing. "Guess it's 'everyone visits Ori day'."

Ku tilted her head. "What?"

There was a light bump against the outside wall of the stump. "Hello? Is anyone home?"

Ori rolled his eyes. "Sein, get in here before you get sick." The orb hummed quietly as it floated over to rest on top of his head.

"Ori, I can't get sick. As I have told you time and time again, I am a ball."

"I am aware. As you can see, however, Ku is also a ball, yet is capable of getting sick." Sein looked at the fluffy owlet.

"Hi Sein! What does Ori mean I look like a ball?"

"Fluffy," they responded. "You're very fluffy Ku. Ori's fluffier, though."

"I am not fluffier than Ku, and that is a fact."

"Yeah!" The owlet flicked her wings in the air. "I'm the princess of fluff!"

"Whatever. I still say Ori's fluffier. Watch." They leaned against his chest, and seemed to somehow shrink until they couldn't be seen through his fur.

"Wha-wha-"

"Oh my gosh Ori your fluffy ate Sein!"

"I-what in the world?"

There was a quiet giggle from within his fur, then Sein grew back to their regular size. "Neat trick, yeah?"

"What in the world just happened." They giggled as Ku snickered.

"I'll explain some other time," the orb said. "For now, how about we all play a game?"

"Tag!"

"Ku, it's raining."

"So?" Ori rolled his eyes.

"Ku, my house is way smaller than Kuro's nest. We can't play tag in here." The owlet looked around, then pouted.

"Well, what can we do?"

"...We could play truth or dare," Sein suggested.

Ku scoffed. "You just want me to dare Ori to kiss you."

"Silence, princess." She stuck her tongue out at the orb.

"That's not how it works! You can't tell the princess to shut up!"

"I didn't, I told you to be silent." The owlet grumbled and sank into her fluff.

"Stop fighting, you two. Sein, you don't need to have someone dare me to kiss you, you can just ask. Ku, down with the monarchy." The orb flickered, and Ku let out an indignant squeak.

"Ori! You're supposed to be on my side!"

He snickered. "Nope! The only side I'm on is the side of the common folk!" He raised his hands in the air. "Revolution!"

"Ori, the monarch is usually killed in a revolution." His eyes widened at their words.

"I take it back, no revolution!"

"Too late," they joked, "I've already assembled the forces. We storm the gates tonight."

Ku tilted her head at the two. "What are you talking about? Is this some silly grown up stuff I don't get yet?"

Ori giggled and patted her head. "Yes Ku. Yes it is." He clapped his hands. "Now. About that game..."


	7. Shaped like a family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to make this place a little less empty.

Ori rolls out of his nest and onto his face. He groans and stands up with a stretch, blinking when his tail flicks against his leg.

He'd like to make some soup for breakfast, but the rain didn't stop until late last night, so the forest is still relatively wet. This isn't a problem when it comes to sticks-he had the foresight to store a large amount in his house. It is a problem, however, when it comes to the ground and the rocks he used to make the outline of the fire. He instead just cuts up some of the vegetables to eat with a few berries for breakfast.

Now, on to what he's going to do today. Ku wanting to sleep over the previous day had brought the lack of nests in his house to his attention; a problem he planned to solve, or at least work on remedying. He gets to collecting the grasses he needs, a task that takes about as long as it did the first time he set about it, and leaves him with about half the day left once it's done. He creates a small flame indoors, lights a torch with it, and holds the torch above the nest to dry out the grass after snuffing out the initial fire.

It didn't take too long before Ori was comfortable with the dryness of the nest. Once he was, he snuffed out the torch and walked outside, looking around the Orchard. That was... all he had planned to do. He groaned and let his head fall into his hands. What now?

...There was the option of actually inviting Ku to sleep over. Yeah, that would work. He set off towards the Spirit Well in the Sunken Glades, and used it to warp over to the Forlorn Ruins. He scrambled through the halls and tunnels, until he emerged at Kuro's Nest. Standing before him was Kuro and Ku, the former of which was showing the former something about her wings. "Hello?"

"Ori!" Ku ran over to him, falling into his hug. "Hi! What are you doing here? Are you sleeping over? Can you can you can you can you can-"

"No Ku, I'm not sleeping over." The owlet let out a soft whine. "I was actually wondering if you wanted to sleep over at my house. I made a second nest, so that's not a problem any more."

Ku gasped and ran up to her mother, hopping up and down excitedly. "CAN I MOM CAN I CAN-"

"Yes sweetie." She cheered and ran around in a circle while Kuro rolled her eyes. "You need to eat lunch first. Ori, would you care to stay, or was this another one of your spontaneous decisions that you did next to no planning on?" The spirit chuckled nervously and ran back into the tunnels while Kuro laughed behind him.

Once he got home, he ate his own lunch, then went about getting everything he would need. A good bunch of bugs for Ku to have for dinner and breakfast, refilling his bottle with water so she would have something to drink, and making sure that the nest was properly made(it was). About an hour or so after he got back home he heard the flap of large wings, and walked outside to find Kuro landing in front of his house, Ku on her back. 

The owlet hopped down, and Kuro looked down to her. "Now, you remember what I said, yes?"

"Behave, don't wander off, listen to Ori?"

"Exactly." She patted the owlet's head. "I'll pick you up a bit before lunch, alright?" Ku chirped an affirmative, and Kuro took off back to her nest.

"Hi!" Ku ran over to Ori and gave him a hug. "What's up?"

"Ku, it's been like an hour. Nothing new has happened. Now come on, come in!" The two entered the stump, and Ku cheered, flopping onto the new nest. "Like it?"

"It's great!" She sat up, a smug look crossing her face. "This is my throne, as the princess of fluff."

He snickered and spread his arms wide. "But of course, my liege. Pray tell, however, where is your crown?"

Ku tilted her head slightly. "What."

"Oh, uh, yeah it's your throne, but you don't have a crown so let's go make one." She cheered, and followed him outside and towards a large field full of flowers. "Now, what color do you want it to be?"

"Purple and red! Like my mom and dad!"

"Of course." The red flowers weren't hard to find, as they weren't exactly an uncommon flower color. Purple flowers, on the other hand, took a while to get. They would have stood out decently well, had they not been shorter than most of the other flowers. They did get roughly an equal amount of red and purple flowers eventually, though, and Ori intertwined their stems to make Ku a flower crown. "There! Now you're _really_ the princess of fluff."

Ku looked down, a thoughtful expression on her face. "No, I think there was one more thing..."

"Whatever it is, you're probably too young for it. That or we can't get it-at least, not without traveling to Niwen, and we don't have the time for that." She shrugged, and the two of them raced back to the stump, starting a game of tag once they were there. Ku had the advantage of being able to fly, yet Ori's sheer speed stopped her from ever flying out of his reach whenever she tagged him. As all things must, there game eventually came to an end, Ku managing to tag Ori one last time as he attempted to jump off of a tree.

"Alright, alright, I think that's enough for now." Even with how energetic he was, Ori was starting to feel tired. "I'm gonna get my dinner started, okay? You can run around if you want, but please try to stay where I can see you."

"Okay!" Ku flitted up into the air, lazily gliding around trees to test her own maneuverability, or as she called it, "spinny skills". Now that the ground was drier, Ori was able to set up his soup-a nice mix of carrots, potatoes, and a single ear of corn he had found. Once he had everything in the pot and cooking, he sat back and watched as Ku spun and twisted through the trees around the stump. He occasionally had to call out for her to stay close, but it was relatively relaxing.

Ori placed another stick into the fire, and watched as Ku slowly glided down towards him. "Done for today?"

"Yeah," she said, a hint of tiredness in her voice. "I think I'm getting better at turning."

"Soon enough," Ori smirked, "you'll be more deserving of Turna's name than he is." She lazily flicked a wing into the air in triumph, along with a quiet hoot. "Soup's almost done, by the way. I have some bugs for you to eat, unless you want me to get you something else?"

"No, bugs are fine." He nodded and dipped into his house, coming out with the bag of bugs and handing it to Ku, who promptly started feasting on them.

"Don't eat too many. You don't want to have a stomach ache, do you?" She shook her head and slowed to a more sedate pace. The soup finally finished, and Ori put out the fire to let his food cool.

Ku turned to him, snapping up a cricket. "Do you ever wish you could eat more kinds of food?"

"Ku, I'm pretty sure I could eat rocks and be fine. For me, it's a matter of whether it tastes really bad or not, not whether or not it's edible."

"Well, are there any foods you wish tasted better to you?"

He tapped his chin. "Bugs would be nice, I guess. They're pretty much everywhere, so having something to eat wouldn't be much of a problem."

"Yeah, bugs are great!" He chuckled at his cousin's enthusiasm, and put a hand over his soup-seemed cooled enough. His bottle still had some water for Ku in it, so he just ate straight from the pot. Speaking of the bottle, he offered it to Ku, who gladly accepted it.

He swallowed down a bit of potato. "So, anything interesting happen at the nest."

She smiles brightly. "Oh yeah! Shriek's actually kind of learning to climb, and it's really funny because she climbs up behind Tok and scares him and he falls for it every time." 

He snickers and takes a sip of soup. Tasty. "Anything else?"

"Hmmmm... not really..." She blinks, "actually, there is one thing. You know how my siblings are so much older than me, right?"

"Because of the complications with your egg, yeah."

"Well, Turna might move out soon." He blinked at her. "Only maybe. He kind of wants to move to Niwen, but mom's really concerned he's not old enough yet."

"I think he might want to wait a year or two," he commented. "Sure, I'd say Kuro doesn't really have the right to stop him now that he's an adult, but he's still kind of inexperienced."

"That's what dad and Shriek said, but Turna just got angry and said that he was only not experienced because of mom." Ori flinched a little-he knew Kuro was concerned she had babied her kids too much, but he didn't think it was that bad. "I'm kind of worried that he and mom are gonna fight."

"Kuro would never fight you guys," he assured her. "Trust me, she's just concerned about you all."

"But what do we do if Turna really moves out?"

Ori scratched his chin. "I don't think Turna's a good enough flier to get all the way to Niwen yet, so he'll probably stay in Nibel for a while. If he does, I'll try and convince him to stay here, okay?"

"Okay..."

"Don't worry Ku. This is probably mostly just Turna getting fed up with Kuro babying you guys too much. If you really want to do something about it, I'd say that you can probably try to get Kuro to give you guys more independence."

She hums and eats another cricket. "That makes sense. Thanks Ori."

"No problem Ku."

* * *

Ori adjusted the flower crown on Ku's head while Kuro watched. "Be good, okay?"

"I wiiiiill," she whined, hugging him. "Bye bye!"

"Goodbye Ku," he chuckled as she flew onto Kuro's back. He looked at the large owl. "Thanks for letting her visit."

"Thank you for letting her stay over," she replied. "Was she well behaved?"

"Absolutely." He grimaced slightly; he should just get this out of the way. "She brought up that Turna might be moving soon."

Her face faltered to a small frown. "...He might."

"Don't blame yourself. Just try to be better."

She sighed, "right, of course. We'll see you later, yes?"

"Of course." The owl took off into the midday sky, Ku waving back as they passed the treetops. He sighed and stepped inside, grabbing his bags and bottle. He headed to the stream, though he took his time. Once he got there, he filled up the bottle with water and filled up the bags with berries and vegetables. "Back to the motions," he muttered.

He stopped for a second and lightly tapped his cheek. He had to stop thinking like that; he'd gotten plenty of stuff done, and he could relax now. He didn't have to be constantly building something or improving something. There was something to be gained from doing nothing and just relaxing.

He returned home and put his things away. The addition of the new nest resulted in a little less available storage in the stump proper, but there was still plenty enough space. Once he'd done that, he walked outside and laid down on top of the map stone.

He hoped Turna didn't move out. He had faith in him, of course, but he was still concerned. He was worried that the owlet-well, he was an adult now, wasn't he? He was a full-fledged owl now. He was worried that the owl wasn't really thinking about what he was doing, and had just run out of patience for Kuro's babying. He was afraid that, if Turna really did leave the nest, he wouldn't be prepared in the slightest. In the end, though, what could he do? It was Turna's decision, not his.

...Of course. He smacked himself in the face with a groan. He had literally done this entire thing solely because he wanted to be more independent. Turna was doing this because he wanted to be more independent. He might not be able to just flat out make Turna stay, but he could at least make sure that the owlet knew exactly what he was getting into.

With his mind made up, he raced to the Glade's Spirit Well and warped to the Forlorn Ruins, just as he had the day prior. He raced through the tunnels up to Kuro's nest, arriving before a slightly surprised Phoenix. "Ori?" he asked, "is something wrong? Ku didn't forget anything, did she?"

"No, she didn't." He stood up a little taller. "Do you know where Turna is? I want to talk to him about something."

Phoenix tilted his head. "I believe he's near the mountain top. If he's not there, though, I don't know."

"Thanks a ton." Ori took off from the nest and up the mountain, following a path he had long since memorized. He scrambled to a decently level area he knew about towards the mountain's top, and sure enough, Turna was there, sitting with his eyes closed. "Hey, Turna."

The owl opened his eyes and stood up. Dang, he was getting tall. "Ori? Why are you here?"

"I wanted to talk. About you moving out." His eyes lit up, and Ori flinched.

"I know, isn't it a great idea? I can finally learn more new stuff, finally live without mom leaning over my shoulder all the time, just like you!"

"Turna, you're making a mistake." The owl blinked. "A mistake that I made, just for different reasons. And another difference is that you're not nearly ready to deal with the fallout of this mistake."

"...What are you talking about?"

"Turna, do you trust me?" The owl nodded. "Do you trust my judgement?" Another nod. "Then _please,_ don't leave your family. Talk with Kuro. Try and explain why you're upset. Don't resort to such extreme solutions when you haven't tried the simpler things yet."

He squirms around uncomfortably. "...I'm ready."

"No, you're not." He walks up to the owl and puts his hands on his wings. "You're not ready yet. I would know. Now, please, I want you to reconsider what you're doing, okay? Think about it. About the consequences."

Turna fidgets for a moment, then sighs. "Fine. I will." He walks past Ori and makes to fly down to the nest. "Thank you, Ori."

"No worries." As the owl glides down, Ori looks to the Orchard, being able to see it from how high up he is. The place was so large.

He started walking down the mountain to the Spirit Well. Maybe, one day, he wouldn't be the only in the Orchard. Maybe one day, Turna or Ku or one of the other owls would move there. For now, though, they had a place to be, and that place was here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspiration for the flower crown thing goes to Kupfermaske. I was already going to do the whole 'Ku sleeps over' thing, but I hadn't thought of continuing the princess fluff joke until they mentioned a princess needing a crown.


	8. Incoming chill

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Winter is coming, small man.

Ori blinked blearily, and rubed his eyes with a yawn. The sun was rising, and that meant it was time for him to as well.

He walked outside, only to find that he'd gotten a visitor in the form of Naru, who had one arm behind her back. "Hi mom."

"Good morning Ori." She wraped him in a one armed hug which he readily returned. "Sleep well?"

"Yeah, pretty good. Why are you out here so early?"

She chuckled and put him down. "Because I wanted to give you this before you went out for the day." She moved her other arm from behind her back, and presented him with a large roll of cloth. "This is a blanket; it's meant to keep you warm. Since you're living in a colder place this year, I was concerned that you might not be ready for just how much chillier it's going to be in the winter."

He accepted the blanket, and wrapped it around himself. It was quite big; he could probably fit his entire body under it, if he curled up. "Thanks, mom. I... don't really have anything to give you other than food, though..."

"It's alright Ori." she picked him up in a hug again, this time with both arms. "I just want to make sure that you're ready for winter. Speaking of food, you've got enough, right?"

"Yep, I should be set."

"Good, good." She set him back down and patted him on the head. "Well, I'll be going home now. Make sure you have a good breakfast, okay?"

"Okay. See you later."

"See you later." She walked off back into the Orchard, and Ori reentered his home, placing the blanket in his nest. Turna considering moving out had been the last particularly eventful part of autumn, so he'd had plenty of time to prepare for winter. He had made a couple of large, wooden containers with Gumo's instruction, both of which were filled to the brim with various fruits and vegetables, and would hopefully be enough to last Ori through the winter. Even if it wasn't, he'd learned a bit about cooking meat thanks to Naru, and he was far from a bad hunter.

Of course, this only left him with one more problem, that being the cold. He'd made both nests a bit denser, and he'd made sure that the insulation was properly made. He'd stored up plenty of fire wood, and now had a blanket. Overall, he should be fine on staying warm as well. And... that was really all he had to worry about. He could break through ice with ease, so the stream being frozen over wouldn't be a problem.

He ate a few berries for breakfast, and hopped on top of the map stone. The rock was getting colder alongside everything else, and a shiver ran up his spine as he adjusted to how much colder than the ground it was. He sat down and crossed his legs, pondering what he could do. Maybe check up on everyone? They were probably fine, but it never hurt to check. He could also stock up on more food, but he already had plenty of that, so there wasn't much of a point in that.

His task for the day chosen, Ori hopped off of the stone, and made for the Sunken Glades' Spirit Well. It would be nice to have one in the Orchard where it would be convenient, but he didn't know how to build one, and he already had a task for today, so he put it to the back of his mind. Once he got to the well, he warped to his first destination, the Hollow Grove.

"Ori," the Spirit Tree rumbled as he appeared, "what brings you here?"

"Just checking in." He hopped off of the well and ran into the field. "I wanted to make sure you and Sein and the little spirits were ready for winter."

"We will be fine," he chuckled. "Though, your concern is appreciated. Sein would like to talk to you, if that's alright?"

"Of course." Soon enough, the small sphere of light came floating down to him. "How are you?"

"Great. And don't worry about us; me and the Spirit Tree have gone through plenty of winters already, and we've been planning for this since the blindness ended."

He giggled and patted them. "Of course you were. You're always so prepared for stuff like this."

"Not really..."

"Oh, you messed up once." He pulled them into a hug and rubbed their top. "That doesn't mean you're suddenly a failure. You'll do great Sein, I know it."

"Thank you Ori." They slipped out of his grasp and started slowly floating back to the tree. "See you tomorrow?"

"For sure." He waved goodbye to them and the Spirit Tree, and hugged some of the little spirits goodbye, as they had started to congregate around him once they realized he had arrived. "You guys listen to the Spirit Tree and Sein, okay?" They nodded enthusiastically and let him pass, allowing him to return to the Spirit Well and warp to the Forlorn Ruins. His first destination wasn't with Kuro, however, as he heard a quiet clanking and humming.

He hopped through a few passageways, following the noise to its owner, Gumo, who stood hunched over a machine, hammering a few nails into place. "Hey Gumo."

"Oh, hello Ori!" The last Gumon swept him into a hug, and patted him on the head. "Is something up?"

"No, just wanted to check up on you. Ready for winter?"

"Yes, I am. Just tweaking this thing to make sure it works properly."

Ori crouched down and poked a metal plate on the machine. "What's it do?"

"Nothing yet." He lined up a nail and steadied his hand, then smacked the nail into place. "Once I'm done, though, it should be able to help us keep some foods good for longer." He scratched his chin at Ori's confused expression. "So you know how usually, to keep some fruits and whatever from going bad, you dig a hole underground and store it there?"

"Yeah, because it's colder underground."

"Exactly. This will essentially act as that hole."

Ori scrunched up his eyes. "But... why? It's so small." Well, that was a bit of an exaggeration. It was about as big as two of him standing back to back, but it was still pretty small compared to one of said holes he had seen in the castle in Meril.

"We don't need it to be big, Ori."

"Oh. Good point." He stood up and stretched his arms. "Well. I'm gonna go check on Kuro."

Gumo hummed and hammered another nail into place. "I think she'll be fine, Ori."

"Yeah, but I just wanna make sure." The Gumon shrugged and focused on his work, so Ori took off towards Kuro's nest. Instead of going through the ruins, though, he instead elected to walk up the mountain; he liked the fresh air, and the view would be nice. As he climbed his way up, he occasionally took a moment to look out and appreciate said view. The blanket of blues, whites, and greys would probably be a little ugly to most, but Ori personally viewed all the little details as a wonder.

Once he reached the nest, it was to find the entire family there; Kuro and Phoenix were discussing something while the kids played. "Heya!"

"Ori!" Ku jumped over to him, flattening him in a hug. "Why are you here?"

Shriek tilted her head and walked over. "Can't he just want to visit?"

"It's _Ori,"_ Tengma snickered.

The spirit put his hands on his hips and scoffed in mock indignation. "And what is that supposed to mean young lady?"

"Who are you calling young?" The owl walked over and easily wrapped Ori in one of her wings. "I'm taller than you!"

"Still younger." She stuck her tongue out and backed up. "I'm here to check up on you guys. You're ready for winter, right?"

Shriek snickered, "So long as Turna doesn't randomly get the urge to move out in the middle of a snowstorm." The owl squawked at her and ran over to bop her wing with his. "You can't hurt me punk, I'm invincible!"

"Is that so?" Ori asked.

"Shut up pipsqueak." The spirit stuck his tongue out, but blinked as a shadow covered him from behind.

Turning around, he found that Tok had walked behind him while he was talking with the others. "Hello Tok. Is something the matter?" He blinked again as Tengma hurried over in front of him, effectively trapping him. "Did I miss something?"

"You're not leaving," Tok said with a smirk.

"...Why?"

"Because we said so," Tengma responded. "Now hang out with us, nerd."

Ori shook his head. "Sorry guys, I just came to check in. I still need to make sure Naru's ready."

Tok's smirk widened. "Then we'll just have to use our secret weapon! Ku!"

The owlet pushed her way past Tengma's wing. "Yeah?"

"Ori doesn't want to hang out with us."

The spirit felt his heart break instantly as Ku gave him a look of complete and utter betrayal. "No, no no I'll hang out okay Ku? Okay?" The owlet glanced at him suspiciously. "I can't stay for long because I still want to make sure Naru's ready, but I'll hang out for a while, okay?"

"Okay!" Her face brightened up and she hugged her cousin. He sighed and hugged her back, throwing a glare at the snickering duo of owls surrounding him. "What game do you wanna play?"

"How about we play 'you take a nap while I make sure your parents are being responsible'?" Ku stuck her tongue out at him, and Ori patted her head. "Just give me a minute, okay? I'm just going to make sure your parents are doing good at parent things, then I'll come and play, alright?"

"Alright!" She ran over to Kuro. "Mom, we're gonna go play lower down on the mountain."

Kuro leaned down and nuzzled her daughter. "Alright Ku. Just make sure you're all back up in time for lunch, okay?" The owlet nodded, then ran over and glided off the mountain, her siblings following behind. "Ori. I take it you're going to join them?"

"In a minute. I just wanted to make sure you guys were ready."

"We'll be fine," Phoenix said. "We've got plenty of food stored up, the nest is warm, and we can go ice fishing if we need to."

Kuro smirked and patted him with her wing. "Dear, you couldn't ice fish if your life depended on it."

"I'm getting better!"

"That's debatable."

Ori chuckled and said goodbye to the couple, then leaped off the mountain, pulling out the feather and slowly gliding down to where the kids were waiting for him.

* * *

"Alright, I give up!" Ori tried to throw the feather on the ground, but grabbed it before the strong winds could blow it away. "You guys have gotten too fast for me!"

"We were always too fast for you," Tengma joked from high above him, "we just never tried before." Ori scoffed and turned away from her.

"Tengma, that's the worst lie I've ever heard."

Shriek snickered from the rock she was sitting on. "Why get good at the lie when you can get good at the fly?"

"Oh, you're not good at either, miss rocks for wings!" The owl laughed and tapped her wings against the rock, prompting him to join her. The two watched the owls and owlet overhead as they circled around the large patch of relatively flat ground on the mountainside, shouting taunts and jokes to each other.

"...Ori?" He hummed and turned to her. "Do you ever wish you could fly?"

He shrugged. "Not really. I mean, it would be nice, but I'm fine with what I have."

"But don't you wish you could join them up there?"

"I could," he motioned to the feather, "but I don't belong up there. I belong down here."

"And how do you know that?"

"Trial and error." She snickered and nudged him off the rock with her wing. "I should really get going. Think you could tell them I said goodbye?"

"Sure." He waved goodbye to Shriek, and hopped his way down the mountain to the Forlorn Ruins' Spirit Well, warping over to the Sunken Glades. From there, he took his time walking to Swallow's Nest-Naru had had the time to meet up with him that morning, so she was probably fine and ready. Still, it never hurt to check.

"Mooom," he shouted as he entered the cave, "you're not dead, are you?"

"Perhaps not," Naru said from the other end of the cave, where she was stirring the cauldron. "And perhaps I'm a ghost of your past, here to haunt you forever."

He giggled and hopped onto a stool, peering into the pot. "Spooky. Is that Twistroot?"

"It is! Thank you for getting me some, by the way."

"No problem! Need any help with this?"

"Only if you're willing to have some for yourself." He hesitated, then nodded. "Alright. Do you think you could cut up a couple of Wishing Bells for me?"

He hopped off the stool with a nod, and hurried over to Naru's food supply. He dug through it for a moment, before pulling out two light blue, spherical plants. He went back over to the cauldron, chopped the plants' stems off to the side, then started cutting the plants into pieces over the cauldron with his claws, letting the pieces fall into the water below. "So, you're ready for winter?"

"Just as ready as always," she replied. "Try to stay warm, alright Ori?"

"I will. And I'll come back if it ever gets too cold."

"Good." She pats him on the head, and the two continue to work and talk. Ori finishes up with the Wishing Bells, and gets started on cutting some potatoes up while Naru stirs.

A few minutes later, Gumo enters the cave and puts a bag down in his nest. "Hello you two. Need any help?"

Naru taps the side of the cauldron with her spoon. "Could you get out the bowls and spices?" He nods with a hum, and gets to work.

Once the soup is finished, each of the three gets some for themselves, and sit at the table to eat. "So, Ori," Gumo says a smile on his face, "find anything interesting lately? Any more old sea monsters Kuro turned into a rock or something like that?"

"No, everything's actually been really quiet." He takes a sip of his soup. "I think it's because winter's getting close, so everything's sort of just calming down."

Naru hummed and sprinkled some salt on her soup. "That's nice. I imagine it'd be pretty annoying trying to get everything you need while dealing with something weird happening every week."

"Yeah, the calm's pretty great." He slurped down some of his soup. "Though, it does get kind of boring some days."

"Can't expect perfection," Gumo mused.

Ori shrugged. "I know, but still."

"No point in worrying about it," Naru hummed, handing Gumo the pepper. "The cold'll be here soon, so you should be more concerned about that."

Ori snorted and stirred his soup with a claw. "I'm more concerned about whether this'll be the year where the Spirit Tree can't stop me from finally starting a massive snowball fight with the little spirits."

Naru chuckled softly and patted his head. "We can only hope that you finally get the madness your silly little head so desperately craves." He pouted and buried his head in his bowl, downing his entire bowl of soup in a little over a minute. "My goodness! You should have said you were so hungry."

"Wasn't," he mumbled, holding his stomach. "Just wanted to change the topic." Naru and Gumo both snorted, the former patting his shoulder.

"Even so, do you want seconds?"

"No thank you." He stood up. "I'm gonna go wash this." Naru hummed, and he took that as permission to leave.

He walked out of the cave and to the lake outside, dipping the bowl in the water and scrubbing at it. The sheer cold of the lake sent a shiver through his entire body, and he hurried along.

Once he'd cleaned it to the degree Naru had taught him as being acceptable, he rushed back inside and dried the bowl on a cloth, then put it back where he knew it belonged. "Thank you for letting me stay for lunch."

"No worries at all," Naru said. "Do you have anyone else to check on?"

He scratched his chin. "...Only Leviathan and Ginso."

"Then could you spare some time? I'd just like to make sure that you still remember how to sew properly."

"Sure!"

* * *

Ori skips out of the cave with a wave to Naru and Gumo. He now has a roll of cloth around his neck-something Naru called a 'scarf', and is apparently supposed to be sort of like a miniature blanket.

He makes his way to the Sunken Glades' Spirit Well, and uses it to warp to the Ginso Tree. He climbs up a bit, until he's facing the Element of Waters. "Hey Ginso! Ready for winter?"

"We are," they replied, "thank you for asking. We assume, however, that you are more concerned as to Leviathan's state of preparation, yes?" He laughs and rubs the back of his head. "Just as we believed. Do not be too worried for us, Ori of the Blind Forest. The waters within will flow, irregardless of the cold outside."

"Good to know. See you later!" The being gives him their farewell, and he quickly maneuvers his way down the tree and out to the many rivers and lakes beyond. He makes his way to the one he knows holds Leviathan, removes his scarf, and hesitantly sticks a hoof into the water. Thanks to its proximity to the Ginso Tree, it's not nearly as cold as the rest of the forest's waters, and he slips in after only a few seconds of adjustment. The lake isn't too big, but he did make Leviathan pretty small, so it takes him a minute to find the red creature. He swims over and taps him on the back of his head, grabbing the being's attention.

He and Leviathan both surface quickly. "Ori. How are you?"

"I'm fine. Just came to make sure you're ready for winter."

"My first of freedom in quite a long while," he muses. "I will be fine, however. I do believe I've adjusted well to this body and place."

"Good, good. Guess I'll see you around?" The sea creature nods, then dips back below the waters, prompting Ori to leave the lake. Business for the day done, he pulses some of his light out to dry off and retrieves his scarf, scales the Ginso Tree back up to its Spirit Well, then warps back to the Sunken Glades. From there, he walks back to the Orchard, and his home. The sun is close to setting, much of his time spent on his lesson with Naru, alongside the days simply becoming shorter.

He walked into his house and rummaged around in his food bin for a bit, getting out a small head of cabbage and a couple apples to eat for dinner. He sat down in his nest as he crunched away at his food, wrapping his blanket around himself. In due time, the food was all gone and the sun had gone down.

Ori curled up in his nest, the warmth from his blanket covering him slowly lulling him to sleep. Today had been a good day, and with any luck, the rest of the year would be even better.


	9. Snowstorm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Don't let the cold get to you, small man.

Ori woke up to a knocking at his door, and buried his head deeper in his nest with a groan. He was pretty sure the sun wasn't even up yet; who in the world would be at his house so early? "Noooo..."

There was a squeak from the other side of the door, and Ori's eyes snapped open. He got up and opened the door to find that the world was indeed still pitch black out, yet there was some distinguishable light in the dark: three sleepy-looking little spirits standing in front of his door. "Wh-what are you all doing out here so early? Or..." He looked up at the sky and found that the moon hadn't even reached its pinnacle in the sky yet. "Late? What in the world, why are you three still up!"

The spirits tried to push past him into his home, and he let them pass. The three wandered over to the spare nest and piled up in it, making a small ball of little spirit. "Oh, were you guys cold?"

The one on top shook their head and walked over to hug him. "Brother..."

He blinked and picked them up. "Finally learning how to speak, huh?" The spirit nodded sleepily. "Neat. You guys missed me?" Another nod. "Alright then, I guess you can stay the night." Two of the spirits gave a tired cheer, the one in Ori's arms already having fallen asleep. He placed the spirit with their siblings, and draped his blanket over them-the scarf should be enough for him for tonight.

The situation figured out and dealt with, Ori curled up in his nest, quietly falling back to sleep.

* * *

Ori was woken up by a soft nudging against his side. His eyes slowly opened to find that one of the little spirits was poking him while the other two watched from under the blanket in the other nest. "Morning." The spirit gave a happy squeal and threw their arms in the air, hopping around in a circle victoriously.

Ori sat up in his nest with a chuckle, rubbing his head to try and make himself less tired. "Okay, you guys want some breakfast?" All three spirits turned to face him, nodding rapidly. "Of course you do." He walked over to his food barrels and pulled out some berries, handing a few to each of the little spirits. He also got himself a few carrots and an apple to eat, once he was sure his siblings were actually eating and not playing with their food.

He opened his door to see what time it was, and was immediately met with a blast of cold air. The little spirits squealed and huddled together, and Ori quickly shut the door. Looking down, he saw that a light dusting of snow had accompanied the chill. "Well then," he turned to the little spirits, who had separated once the door was closed. "How about, once you three are finished breakfast, I'll bring you back to the Spirit Tree. Don't worry about the cold, you can keep the blanket, alright?" They looked among each other, then nodded in unison.

"Brother thank," one said, and the other two sped up their nodding. "Brother nice."

"You're welcome. Now come on, we don't want it to get colder, now do we?" The squeaked out negatives, and quickly ate through their berries.

Once they were done, they stood up, huddled under the blanket. The middle one raised a hand. "Go?"

"Yep, one second." Ori made sure his scarf was properly wrapped up, and opened the door. He ushered the three out, and walked out himself, closing the door behind him. They couldn't use the Spirit Well, as his siblings weren't quite old enough yet, so they would have to walk to the Hollow Grove. Along the way, Ori ate the rest of his breakfast, and caught the blanket when a gust of wind almost blew it out of the little spirits' grasp. "Careful guys," he wrapped it around them again.

"Brother thank."

He patted the middle spirit's head with a hum. "No problem. Hold on a little tighter though, okay?" They all nodded, and the little group continued onward. Their trek didn't last of too long-the Grove might have been a good distance away, but it's not like they weren't traveling across the entirety of Nibel. Upon arriving, however, Ori found it to be notably empty-there were only a few spirits within the Hollow, all of whom were hiding under one of the Spirit Tree's roots. They stood before the Spirit Tree, and Ori gave a small bow. "Hello sir."

"Ori," he responded, "thank you for bringing them back. My apologies for not having someone stop them-they were not falling asleep, and kept asking to visit you."

"It's alright." He shooed away the spirits, who took off to join their siblings. "I do think it was a bit dangerous for them to be out so late at night though."

"Two of them have become quite skilled with the Spirit Edge-I trusted in their ability to fend off anything particularly dangerous-and the third of them can track other spirits' light, so I knew they wouldn't get lost. And besides, many of Nibel's more hazardous nocturnal predators have already settled into hibernation."

Ori's eyes scrunched up slightly. "So soon? Shouldn't there still be a few more days until they start doing that?"

"There should be. I believe that a storm may be soon to come," the tree replied. "In fact, I fear that we may already be in the midst of its beginning. As such, I would like to request something of you. I would like to ask if you would be able to house a few of your younger siblings until said storm settles. I have already asked Naru and Kuro, but as you can see, they have not been able to house all of the spirits."

"How many?"

"Ten," he replied. "I understand, however, if this is too many for you."

Ori hummed and scratched his chin for a minute. He could probably fit four of the little spirits per nest if they piled up like the three had last night, but he only had two nests, which would leave two spirits plus himself without somewhere to sleep. Of course, he did also have plenty of left over fibers...

"I can probably do that. I'll only be able to fit four spirits per nest, but I can get a makeshift nest made for the last two by tonight."

"And what of yourself?"

He dismissed the question with a wave. "I'll be fine. I'm used to the cold."

The tree was silent for a moment. "...Very well. If you need any help, do not hesitate to ask."

"Of course. Do you want me to take them with me right now?"

"Preferably." He nodded, and the Spirit Tree informed the remaining spirits of the plan. They all crowded around Ori, and the tree rumbled again. "Sein would like to speak with you for a moment. I wish you the best of luck."

"Thank you, sir." He watched as the blue ball of light that was Sein floated down through the clearing and settled before him.

"If you need any help," they said, "and I mean _any_ help, please _please_ don't hesitate to ask for it. I know I can't stop you from sleeping on the ground or whatever, but at least _try_ to get yourself something to sleep on, okay?"

He hugged them and gave them a light kiss. "I will. Love you."

"I love you too," they responded. "I just worry."

"I know." He smiled brightly and let go of them, watching Sein as they floated back up to their perch. "So," he looked to the little spirits, all of whom were looking at him expectantly, "ready to go to my home?" He was met with a chorus of nods, and the group set off.

* * *

They arrived at the stump, and Ori ushered the spirits in. "Now, I'm going to need that blanket back." The spirits handed it to him, and he draped it on the floor. "Alright. Four of you to each nest, and then two of you sleep on this blanket. I'm going to try and make you guys a second one by tonight to put on top of this one, and that can work as a makeshift nest, alright?" The spirits nodded and split into groups, quickly dividing into the nests and onto the blanket as Ori instructed. "Good. Now, try to keep yourselves preoccupied, and _please_ don't eat all the food, okay?" They nodded again, and Ori exited the stump.

He entered the storage extension, and rummaged around for what he would need. Some fibers, and his sewing equipment Naru had taught him to make. He also grabbed a bottle, and dunked it through a stone basin full of water. Taking a hesitant sip, he shivered-it was freezing. Still, it would have to do. He reentered his home, and handed the bottle to one of the spirits. "Share with each other. Once it's empty, whoever finished it has to go into the extension outside and refill it, got it?" The little spirits all nodded. "Alright, you guys can play some games or whatever. Just try not to mess anything up or disturb me, okay?" Another chorus of nods.

Ori set to work on sewing another blanket, occasionally peeking at what the little spirits were doing. They mostly just talked in squeaks among each other, probably about what was going on. Ori wished he understood the strange, squeaky language that all other spirits seemed to understand. Such was one of the many, many consequences of growing up away from the Spirit Tree.

He took a break around noon to make sure everyone got lunch, then immediately got back to work. Ori didn't manage to make the blanket before the day's end, and he let out a sigh. It wouldn't be as big as the one Naru made, and the whole thing was a bit messy, but it would hopefully be enough for the little spirits. He just needed a couple more hours...

Everyone ate dinner, and he immediately returned to work. Even once the little spirits started curling back up into the nests and on the blanket, he still wasn't done. Even when they had long since fallen asleep, he still wasn't done. Every tiny shiver he saw from the spirits on the blanket only made him work faster, yet it still felt like it _wasn't enough._

Eventually, he got it done. It was messy, it wasn't as big as the first one, but it fit over the two little spirits on the blanket when he draped it over them. Hopefully, that would keep them warm enough for tonight.

...It... was still night, right? Ori didn't want to open the door, since that would let in cold air and make his siblings uncomfortable. Whatever. He curled up on the ground next to the blanket, and made sure his scarf was snugly wrapped around him. Not that that would block out much of the cold, but it was certainly better than nothing.

It took a while but eventually, even through the cold and his borderline non-stop shivering, Ori fell asleep.

* * *

Ori woke up to warmth he hadn't expected. When he cracked his eyes open, he found the reason quickly enough; the two blankets were now draped over _him,_ and a little spirit was holding a tiny, blue flame in front of him. "Brother warm?"

"Yes," he mumbled. "What are you doing up? Why are the blankets on me and not the others?"

"Brother cold!" The flame dissipated as the spirit's face turned incredibly concerned. "Not wake up!"

"I would have been fine," he grumbled.

"No!" They squeaked, "other go Naru!" His eyes shot open, and he sat up.

"How long ago?"

The spirit nudged one of the spirits that hadn't gone-one of the original three to visit Ori-and squeaked at them. They looked towards Swallow's Nest and closed their eyes for a few seconds, turning their head a bit, then turned to Ori. "Come back."

"They're already coming back?" The spirit nodded. Ori gulped in nervousness-he hoped Naru wasn't too worried.

His hopes were killed the second she came in alongside the spirits that had sought her out, terror on her face and three more blankets in her hands. Cold air and snow rushed into the stump as she entered, and Ori shivered. "Ori! Oh dear, you're awake! The other spirits told me you weren't waking up and you were freezing cold!"

"Had to give them the blankets and nest. I didn't want them to be cold."

"So you slept on the freezing ground with nothing but your scarf?" He looked away. "Ori!"

"Mom..."

"No! Young man..." She sighed and handed two of the blankets to the little spirits. "You all, one of these in each nest, alright?" They nodded and did as told, while Naru laid the last on the ground. "Ori, never do this again, or I _will_ get Kuro involved. And that's a promise!"

"Alright mom..." She picked him up and gave him a big hug, then deposited him on the last blanket, and took the blanket he had made.

"Now, I'm going to go and get a couple more blankets for your siblings, and take this one and remake it. How late were you even up working on this?"

"Don't know." She crossed her arms. "Mom..."

"Ori, I know how you feel." She sat down next to him and started rubbing his back. "You want to prove you're grown up-prove that you're strong. But this _isn't_ the way to go about doing that, okay?"

"Okay..."

"Just please be more careful dear. You _need_ to understand when to ask for help, before something goes horribly, horribly wrong."

"I will, I will." Her concern didn't fade, however she did stand up with a sigh.

"To be entirely honest Ori, I'm not sure I believe you. But at the same time, I also know that, no matter what I do, I can't stop you." She hugs him tightly, then steps away. "I'll be back later, alright? Make sure you eat something."

"I will. Bye, mom."

"Goodbye Ori." She departed from the stump, and Ori let out a sigh.

A set of fluffy arms wrapped around his side, and Ori looked to see that one of the little spirits was hugging him. "Brother not do again."

"I will if it keeps you guys warm." His answer only makes the spirit angry, and they summon a small blue flame.

"Brother warm!"

"I am, don't worry." The spirit continues to glare, and tries to shove the flame into his face. "Hey, stop that! You're gonna burn me!"

"Brother warm!" The other spirits echo the first's words, and they all clamber on top of him.

"Hey-Oh, that's actually okay." The first spirit finally manages to shove the flame against his face, and instead of burning him, it sinks into his fur, bringing a pleasant warm sensation that spreads through his head, neck, and chest. "Should have told me it wouldn't hurt."

"Brother warm?"

"Yes, I'm warm." The spirits let out a collective cheer, and Ori laughs. "Now get off me so I can have something to eat!"


	10. Snowfall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keep the small man warm, little spirits!

Ori grumbles at the feeling of a poke to his chest. "Good morning guys."

"Brother warm?" This particular little spirit has been obsessed with him staying warm ever since the first night the full group stayed at his house.

"I'm warm." The spirit gives a happy purr and backs up. "You guys want some breakfast?" A chorus of affirmative squeaks, and he gets up. "What are you guys feeling like today? Berries?"

"Berries!" He laughs and starts sorting through the barrels, handing a few berries to each spirit and a few for himself. They eat their breakfast quietly, the little spirits sometimes making quiet squeaks to each other. The snow falls quietly outside, and he remembers with a sigh that he's going to have to brush it off the roof, unless he wants to risk the whole thing collapsing.

The snowstorm-or, perhaps snowfall would be a more accurate term-has been going on for a solid four days now. The wind has been kind enough to settle down, yet the snow has been nowhere near as merciful; it shows no sign of stopping, nor of even just slowing. As such, although it was nice to still _have_ a roof, he did need to dig snow off of it every morning, or it will probably collapse under the weight. He really should have changed his roof to wood instead of sticks by now, but he just never thought to do so. Now look where he was.

As he finished his last berry, Ori stretched his arms and pushed open the door, moving a large amount of snow with it and allowing the cold of the outside to properly hit him. He shut the door quickly, and clambered up his roof, immediately beginning to push large mounds of snow off. It wasn't particularly slow work, and he had it over in just a few minutes, but it left him absolutely freezing.

He hopped down and opened the door, walking inside and closing it behind him. Immediately a small blue flame was pushed into his chest, and he sighed as the warmth spread across his upper body. "Brother warm."

"Sure am." The spirit nodded and sat down on one of the makeshift blanket nest Naru had supplied. "What do you guys want to do today?"

The spirits squeaked among each other for a few minutes, until one spirit sitting in the corner detached from the conversation suddenly hopped up. Their ears stood straight up and they rushed up to Ori. They poked him in the chest and said "Brother name!" They then motioned to all the other spirits. "No name!" The others looked among each other for a few moments, then started nodding slightly. The first spirit poked Ori again. "Name!"

"You want me to name you guys?" The spirit nodded rapidly. "Ummm... how?"

They all stared blankly for a moment, then the warmth-obsessed spirit summoned their flame and pointed at it. "Name!"

"...Oh! You want me to give you guys names based on your abilities?" The spirit nodded rapidly. "That's a great idea!" The spirit squealed in happiness and put out their flame, then fell on their back and rolled around on the ground. "All right, since you came up with the idea for the theme, how about we start with you? How does... Blaze sound?"

The spirit twisted around to face Ori and rapidly clapped their hands together. "Blaze! Blaze Blaze Blaze!" The other spirits began chattering the name alongside the newly-named Blaze, excitement on their faces.

"Alright, that's one! Who's next?" The spirit who had mentioned names in the first place rose their hand and hopped in place. "Alright, what can you do?"

"Find!" They closed their eyes and waved their arms around.

"Oh right, you can track other spirit's light. Well then, how about..." He scoured his brain for names, but no matter how hard he thought, only one really sounded particularly like a name. "...how about Seer?"

The spirit frowned and shook their head. "No! Bad ball!" Ori blinked and chuckled.

"Seir's not _bad,_ their just... a little unaware."

"No!" The spirit pulled Ori down to a seated position. "Bad ball!"

"Alright, if you say so. The second best one I can think of would be maybe... Seek?"

The spirit frowned and shook their head. All of a sudden, their ears flicked up and they smiled. "Cherch!"

"Cherch?" They nodded rapidly. "Why Cherch?"

"Cherch!" Ori looked at them skeptically, then shrugged.

"All right, Cherch it is." The spirit cheered and hugged him. "Don't thank me, you came up with it!" The spirit didn't let go of him, however. "All right, all right, now who?"

Ori stood back up and looked around the room for a spirit to pick, but noticed something... odd. "Wait a minute..." One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight... "Hey, why are there only eight of you?" The spirits all froze up at once. _"Guys."_

"Come back!" Cherch squeaked, pointing towards Swallow's Nest. "Go Naru! Soup!"

"...Wait. Have you guys been distracting me... so that you could send two of you... to get me some soup from Naru?" The spirits all nodded hesitantly. "Seriously?" Once again, they all nodded. "Why?"

"Brother warm!" They chorused.

"I am warm! I'm fine!" The spirits were having none of it, however, and grabbed on to Ori. He could have easily broken out of their grip, but he didn't want to risk hurting them, and they knew that. "Come on guys, this isn't fair!"

"Brother warm!" They chorused again, dragging him into one of the nests. Once he was in, Blaze and Cherch piled on top of him, to ensure that he wouldn't try to leave. "Brother soup!"

"This is ridiculous," he said, but the spirits continued to glare at him. "Come on guys, let me go."

"Brother soup!" He sighed and laid back in the nest. Might as well just wait it out.

A while later, Cherch sat up from in the nest. "Others back!" The six little spirits that weren't either on top of Ori or already outside rushed out the door, and helped their siblings to pull in a pot of soup that was almost as tall as them and setting it down in front of the nest Ori was in. One of the spirits rushed back outside, and returned with some bowls and a ladle that Ori had stored away.

"Geez guys, how'd you get that all the way back here? Shouldn't the snow be too deep?" One of the returning spirits raised their hands together, and Ori watched as they were coated in a blue light forming into a drill-like shape. "Alright, I guess that explains that." It was actually nearing noon, and Ori would have long since fallen asleep if it weren't for him being worried about the two spirits that had just returned.

"Soup!" All of the little spirits chorused at once. Blaze and Cherch hopped off of Ori, and lifted up the lid, revealing a delicious-smelling vegetable soup within. One of the spirits shoved a bowl and the ladle into Ori's hands. "Brother soup!"

"Yeah yeah, I hear you." He scooped out some of the soup and poured it into the bowl. He handed the ladle back and took a sip of the soup; warm and delicious, just like Naru always made it. "Thanks guys."

"Soup!" The little spirits each got a bowl and took turns passing around the ladle until everyone had a bowl full of soup. "Brother happy?"

"I'm very happy." They all cheered and started eating their soup, devolving into senseless chatter. Ori chuckled and took another sip of the soup, slowly eating through it. He might as well try to stretch this out as much as possible; there wasn't much they could do with how cold it was outside. "Hey," the spirits turned to him, "did you guys actually want me to give you names, or was that purely to distract me?"

The spirits looked among each other nervously. "I'm not gonna be mad if it was just to distract me. I just wanna know." One of the spirits nodded hesitantly. "Okay. Good to know." With his question answered, Ori took to finishing up his soup.

* * *

There was a whisper in the night. "Brother warm?"

The little spirits all looked to their appointed leader, the one that could track light. The burrower rested a hand on Ori's chest; the older spirit was asleep in his blanket nest, and the burrower could feel that he was at a good temperature. "Brother warm," they whispered back. The spirits all nodded and looked back to the leader.

"Food?" The flame summoner asked. The group turned to the spirit closest to the food barrels. They silently scaled the barrels and stuck a hand into each, lighting a tiny flash at the end of their fingers to see inside the barrels. They turned off the flash, quietly dropped off of the barrels and put a hand at certain points on each barrel. There would be enough food for a good bit longer; asking Naru for some soup had been a good idea. "Food good."

The leader looked to the burrower and the other spirit who had gone to Naru's with them-a Spirit Edge wielder. "Brothers? Sisters?"

"Good. Warm. Happy." The spirits nodded.

"Naru make? Gumo build?"

"Gumo build. Small. Hold soup warm." That was good-the longer the soup stayed warm, the longer it could make Ori warm. "Naru make blanket." Also good, they could never have too many blankets.

The spirits all turned to the leader again. "Father?" The leader nodded, stared towards the Spirit Tree and closed their eyes. He was fine, his light well and put together.

"Father good." The spirits nodded. "Ask?" The fire summoner raised their hand. "Ask."

"Name?" Of course. The leader shook their head.

"No name. Brother not name."

"Name..." The leader sighed and rolled their eyes.

_"Testal,"_ they said in the squeaky language that every spirit but their brother knew, _"He does not need to know our names yet. We will tell him when we can."_

_"That's not what I meant,"_ they whispered, hands clenched. _"I don't wanna be Testal, it's a stupid name. I wanna be Blaze."_

_"Brother does not name us,"_ the burrower said, _"the light does. Why do you not wish for your name?"_

_"I literally just said why, Perinch you dunce."_ The burrower crossed their arms and turned away from Testal.

_"Enough of this."_ They all turned to the flash summoner. _"Blaze, don't be mean. Perinch, what he wants to be called is none of your business. Let it rest."_

There were some grumbles through the group, but they silenced when Ori snorted quietly, his hand twitching a little. The spirits all froze and stared at their older brother. When it appeared as if he wasn't going to wake, they all began to curl up in their groups, settling in for the night.


	11. Snow day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What can your siblings do, small man?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> May 24, 2020: A couple things were slightly reworded, and a character's name was changed to match what it was in Chapter 10. How did I up and forget that a character already had a name, you may ask? Good question.

Ori wakes up to a light poke on the nose. He blinks in surprise and looks at the spirit that poked him. "Um... good morning."

"Brother warm?"

"Seriously guys, I'm fine." The spirit crosses their arms. "Yes yes, I'm warm." The spirit nods, satisfied, and squeaks to the rest of their siblings, who also nod in satisfaction. "What do you guys want for breakfast? Berries?"

"Ate." He blinks. 

"You guys already ate?" They nod, and he goes to check his food barrels. Sure enough, they're a little more empty than they were last night. However, looking closely, he finds that the spirits seem to have taken an appropriate amount of food, not eating more than usual. "Hey, good on you guys for being responsible!" The spirits cheer in glee, glad to have their older brother's approval. "By the way," Ori took out a few carrots and berries, "after I've eaten breakfast, I've got a question for you guys. Okay?" The little spirits all nodded, and Ori began to eat.

* * *

The little spirits were sitting in a small circle, silently waiting for Ori to finish his breakfast, when Blaze spoke up. _"What do you think he's gonna ask us?"_

_"I don't know,"_ the leader responded. _"Maybe something about father? They've always been a little distant; maybe he wants to be closer to his parent."_

_"I don't think so,"_ he said. _"I've never heard Ori call father 'father' or anything like that. I'm pretty sure he considers Naru his parent."_

_"Naru is his guardian at best,"_ the leader retorted. _"She can not possibly replace father."_

_"Sera!"_ The flash summoner scolded, _"don't be rude! Naru's raised Ori, and she raised him well. How can you say such a thing?"_

The leader-Sera-threw their arms in the air. _"It's true! Just because she raised him doesn't make her his parent. Soon enough, Ori will realize where he is best suited to be-where he is meant to be-and he will join us with father."_

_"Oh be quiet! Ori is plenty happy with the family he has! And besides, he's not just going to up and leave behind all this hard work he's done!"_

"Is everything alright?" The spirits quickly turned to Ori, nodding as fast as they could. His expression of concern stayed for a few more seconds, then slowly yet surely faded. "Okay. Please be nice to each other, I'm almost done." The spirits let out small squeaks of conformation, then returned to their conversation.

The flash summoner sighed lightly. _"Look, let's just drop it. Ori likes it here, and if you try to drag him away from it, he's just going to get upset."_ There was a round of grumbles from the little spirits, but no one contested the flash summoner's words.

A few minutes later, Ori walked over to the group. "Hey guys. Mind if I ask you my question now?" The spirits shuffled around slightly, giving Ori space to sit down. "Great. So, I was just wondering: what are all of your abilities? I know that one of you can summon some sort of magical fire, one of you can track light, two of you can use the Spirit Edge, and one of you can use burrow. I don't know about the rest of you though, and I didn't really have anything planned for today, so I thought I might as well ask." 

The spirits looked to their leader. _"What do you think?"_ Blaze asked. _"I don't see any harm in it."_

_"I suppose not,"_ they said. _"Very well then. Who would like to go first?"_

_"Me!"_ One of the spirits raised their hand; out of all of them, they were the shortest, and had slightly smaller ears than the rest of them. They walked up to Ori and put their hands out, palms up. "Brother hands." He hummed and put his hands on top of theirs, palms down. The little spirit closed their eyes and concentrated. After a moment, Ori noticed his hands beginning to float up slightly. He tried to push them down, but found that there was a strange resistance which pushed his hands away. The spirit opened their eyes, and the resistance disappeared, letting Ori settle his hands on theirs again.

"You can sort of... repel things?" They smiled brightly and nodded rapidly, hopping on the spot in happiness. "That's pretty cool!"

The little spirit turned to Sera with a smug grin. _"See, I told you it was cool! Ori even said so!"_

_"Yeah whatever,"_ they grumbled. _"Take a seat and let someone else go."_ The spirit rolled their eyes, but did as they were told.

After a few moments of quiet discussion among the little spirits, another one stood up and moved to the middle of the circle. They rolled their shoulders, hopped into the air, then hopped in mid air. "Double jump, neat!" Ori exclaimed as the spirit landed on the ground. "Maybe one day you'll be good enough at it to do a triple jump." The spirit nodded happily, and returned to their seat.

The next spirit walked into the middle of the circle. Their fur was slightly thicker than the other spirits, and seemed to be a bit less orderly than their siblings fur. They closed their eyes and focused, a soft light coming out of their body and surrounding them as their fur began floating upward. After a moment, they suddenly began rising off of the ground, and held their position a few inches off of the ground. They stayed there for a few seconds, then floated back down. Their fur returned to normal, and the light around them receded into their body.

"You can levitate!" The spirit hummed a conformation, and Ori jumped up happily. "That's awesome! Is that the highest you can get it?" They nodded, and he patted them on the shoulder. "Well, I'm sure that if you practice, you'll be able to go way higher!" The spirit smiled and returned to their seat.

The flash summoner walked up next, and lit their ability at the tips of their fingers. "Oh hey, that's flash, right?" They nodded, and Ori smiled. "Nice. I think I had that one in Niwen, but then I lost it." The little spirit hummed in thought at his words, then sat back down.

The last spirit walked into the middle, though their face was notably downcast. "Not strong," they mumbled, "sorry."

Ori blinked, then stood up and wrapped them in a hug. "Don't worry. You might not have your ability yet, but you're still just as great as everyone else, okay?" The spirit smiled and nodded, then returned to their seat. "Well guys, thank you for answering my question! I... don't really have anything else to do today though, so... I'm gonna go sweep off the roof. You guys can entertain yourselves, yeah?" The spirits all nodded, and Ori got up. "Great. Be back in a few minutes." With that, he walked outside to clear the roof of snow.

The little spirits looked among each other. _"I'd say that was rather successful,"_ Sera said. _"At the least, it certainly could have gone worse."_

_"I wanna know what brother's ability is,"_ the ability-less spirit said.

_"Well,"_ Sera began, _"he has double jump, wall jump, charge-"_

_"That's not what I meant, and you know it."_ All of the spirits looked around uncomfortably. _"I wanna know what his natural ability is."_

The burrower stuck their hand in the air. _"I heard that his ability is called Soul Link. I don't know what it does though."_

_"Why don't we ask him when he comes back? We told him our abilities, he should tell us his."_ There was a general murmur of agreement throughout the group.

_"Actually,"_ Blaze piped up, _"why don't any of us know what his ability does? Why do none of the adults ever talk about it?"_

_"Maybe it's really really dangerous!"_ The burrower said.

_"Maybe,"_ Sera said, _"but that doesn't seem like a good enough reason to keep all of us in the dark."_ The spirit that could levitate raised their hand. _"Yes, Boreas?"_

_"Maybe his ability is to make it so he can absorb other abilities easier?"_

_"No,"_ the flash summoner said, _"he can do that because his light is so underdeveloped. Also, it was kind of odd that he said he lost flash. I didn't know it was possible to lose abilities-maybe that has to do with his ability."_ The spirits all hummed at their words. That was certainly possible.

The group was silent for a while as they tried to think of other possibilities. _"What if he doesn't have his ability?"_ They all turned to the spirit who spoke-once again, the one without an ability. _"Perinch might have heard wrong about Ori having an ability, or maybe he was lied to. Maybe Ori not having an ability is why he was so supportive of me."_

The flash summoner shuffled over to them, and wrapped an arm around their side. _"Rene, listen. Even if Ori does have his ability, he's still gonna be supportive of you. He cares about all of us, and wants to help us grow."_

_"You're sure?"_

_"Positive."_

_"...Thank you, Abon."_ The little spirit smiled and nodded.

A minute or so later, the door creaked open and Ori walked in. Blaze quickly hopped up and pushed a blue flame into the older spirit's chest. "Brother warm?"

"Yep." He nodded, but didn't move. "Something up?"

"Brother strong?" Ori blinked and tilted his head. Blaze summoned another flame and pointed at it, "Strong. Brother strong?"

"...Oh! You want to know what my ability is?" The little spirits all nodded eagerly. "Um... I dunno. It's kind of sad." The spirits all looked at him with pleading eyes. "...Oh, alright. My ability is called Soul Link." Boreas smiled. He knew he was right. "As for what it does... well, it's complicated. The main function, though, is that it can resurrect me." The spirits' eyes widened in shock. "Yep. Like I said, pretty sad. Now, does anyone want-whoa!"

Ori was suddenly grabbed by all ten of the little spirits, who began dragging him to the blanket nest he had been sleeping in. "Brother not okay!" They all chorused.

"Wh-no, I'm fine, guys please let me go."

"Brother not okay!" They pushed him onto the makeshift nest, and all began piling up on top of him. "Brother not okay!"

"Seriously, I'm fine." The spirits glared at him. "Oh come on. I'm okay! Really!"

"No! Brother not okay!" Ori groaned and laid back in resignation. He _knew_ this would happen.

* * *

Late into the night, the little spirits carefully climbed off of Ori and went to their nests. _"What in the name of the light,"_ Sera muttered breathlessly. _"Resurrection. He's died before."_

_"We shouldn't have asked,"_ Rene said with a whimper. _"We shouldn't have."_

_"Let's just go to sleep,"_ Blaze said. _"I don't wanna think about this anymore."_

"Guys?" They all froze and looked to Ori as the Spirit Guardian sat up. "Hey. I'm sorry if what I said about the Soul Link scared you. But... I want you all to know that I care about all of you, okay? It's not that I would die for you-it's that I _did_ die for you. A lot. I wouldn't have been able to save Nibel without the Soul Link. And if I didn't save Nibel, you guys wouldn't be around." He smiled softly. "And the world is a much better place with all of you in it. So... don't think of the Soul Link as bad or scary or something that makes me throw my life into danger. It's not some sort of curse of recklessness. It's a gift of hope." He sighs and curls back up. "If any of you have bad dreams or anything, don't hesitate to wake me up, okay?" They nodded, and Ori closed his eyes with a smile. "Good night."

Blaze crawled over to Ori and poked him on the nose. "...Brother happy?"

Ori opened his eyes and looked at Blaze, then pulled him into a hug. "Yes. I'm very, very happy. I'm happy about a lot of things; I'm happy about good food and nice days. I'm happy about light breezes and beautiful sunsets. But more than anything else, I'm happy about my family. I'm happy that you're all alive, that you're all here. And I would be happy if you guys were happy; if you weren't scared."

The little spirits looked at him, and one by one crawled over to him, until they were all in one big pile. "We happy," Sera murmured. "Brother happy."

"Yep." Ori smiled and rubbed his sibling's head. "I'm happy. Sweet dreams." The little spirits all murmured an affirmative, and drifted peacefully off to sleep.


	12. End of the storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The snowstorm concludes.

Sera looks out into the Orchard sadly, a wistful look adorning their face. It was nearing noon, and though snow covered the ground, it had stopped falling during the night. _"The storm fades."_

Blaze looked at them. _"And that means it's time to leave."_

_"It does."_

He joins the other little spirit. _"You ready?"_

_"I'm gonna miss Ori."_

Blaze rolls his eyes with a snort. _"Then let's just ask father if we can stay longer. Duh."_

Sera blinks. _"...Oh. I guess that is an option. Thank you Testal."_

Blaze crosses his arms and glares. _"Blaze. Not Testal; Blaze."_

_"Of course. My apologies."_

_"Apology accepted."_

The two stare into the forest silently for a while, waiting as their siblings join them to return to the Spirit Tree. Ori is the last to join, walking along a path through the snow that he's cleared. "Everyone ready?" All ten of the little spirits nod silently, not looking at him. "Then I guess we should get going."

The walk to the Spirit Tree is spent in relative silence. Most of the local fauna aren't feeling particularly noisy during this time of year, and none of the Spirit Guardians feel like talking. The little spirits are excited to see their father again, but they also don't want to leave Ori-they enjoy spending time with him, and are still concerned about him staying healthy during the winter. Ori is just as sad to see his siblings go back to the Spirit Tree, though he's much more accepting of it.

They're the last group to return to the tree, Kuro and Naru having already dropped off the spirits they were looking after. The Spirit Tree lets out a low rumble as they enter the clearing before him. "Thank you for looking after them, Ori. They weren't to much trouble, were they?"

"No, they were fine. A little pushy and overly concerned, but they were really responsible."

The tree let out a rumbling laugh. "There's no such thing as overly concerned when it comes to you, Ori." The spirit rolled his eyes, but didn't argue. The tree rumbled again. "Please wait a moment Ori. One of the little ones wants to talk with me about something that they say concerns you." He raises an eyebrow, but sits down with a nod.

_"Father,"_ Sera began, _"me and one of the others would like to ask if we may stay with Ori for a bit longer-we are concerned for his health, and would like to spend more time with him."_

The Spirit Tree hummed for a moment. "Ori," the spirit looked to him, "they say that they and one of your other siblings would like to stay with you a little longer. Would that be alright with you?"

The spirit smiled with glee, glad that his siblings wanted to hang out with him more. "I've got no objections if you don't."

"Very well then." Sera and Blaze both walked up to Ori. "I can arrange for some more food to be delivered tomorrow, if that would be necessary."

"Yeah, that'd be a great help." The tree hummed in conformation, and started planning out who he would send.

Ori turned to Sera and Blaze with a grin. "You guys ready?" They both nodded, and the three spirits started the walk back to the Orchard, waving goodbye to the remaining little spirits and the Spirit Tree.

"So," Ori said once they had reached the Glades, "what made you guys want to hang out with me longer?"

Sera gripped on to Ori's hand. "Brother happy. We happy." Blaze nodded and grabbed Ori's other hand.

"Aw, thank you guys!" He wriggles his hands out of their grasp, and walks a bit ahead of them, turning around so he could see them. "Say, how about we take a small detour before we go home? I just remembered something I wanna see." The little spirits looked at each other and shrugged, then turned to Ori and nodded. "Great!" He suddenly bounded over and picked them up, one in each arm, inciting squeaks of surprise from the little spirits. He then charge jumped up to a tree branch and took off, following a path he knew well.

After a few minutes of hopping through the tree line, Ori came to a stop. They were at the stream Ori usually got water and berries from, though he had never seen it from above before. The stream below was frozen over, sunlight reflecting off the ice and creating a beautiful shimmer. "Isn't this view just amazing?"

Sera punched him lightly in the shoulder, glaring at the older spirit. "Brother bad! Scary!"

Ori chuckled in embarrassment. "Oops... guess I should have given you guys a warning, huh?" Both little spirits only glared at him. "Alright, I'm sorry. Ready to go home?" Nods of conformation, and he set off through the tree tops once more.

* * *

High above the Forlorn Ruins, a family sat in peace. "Sure is a lot quieter with those spirits gone," Tengma muttered. The owls and Phoenix were settled in their nest, Kuro and Phoenix having just gotten back from dropping off the little spirits. Ku was still asleep, having stayed up too late the previous night.

"Good," Shriek said, her voice clipped. "They were so _noisy._ It almost made me miss the Silent Woods."

"Unacceptable." Kuro walked over to her adopted daughter and wrapped her in a big, feathery hug.

"I was just joking mom."

"Still not going to stop." Shriek grumbled lightly, but didn't argue further.

Phoenix watched them happily for a minute, then cleared his throat. "Kuro, dear, isn't there something we should be doing now that we don't have to be concerned about the little spirits or a storm? You know, something birds do in winter that's incredibly important to coming of age in our culture? Somewhere our kids should be going to do said something?"

The owl's eye twitched slightly. "No clue what you're talking about."

Turna glared at his mother. "Mom, are you intentionally keeping parts of our culture from us?"

"Of course not, what ever would make you think I would do that?"

"Dad said it's part of coming of age and you're way too overprotective of us?" Her eye twitched again, and she let Shriek go with a frown.

"Look. What he's talking about is an outdated, unnecessary, and frankly quite stupid tradition."

A frown set itself across Phoenix's face. "It's not stupid."

"It is."

"How about this?" They all looked at Turna, who was still glaring. "This clearly concerns us, not you. So, how about you two _tell us what you're talking about,_ and we'll decide whether we want to go through with whatever it is or not." Tengma and Tok both nodded at his statement, and Shriek seemed a bit curious herself.

Kuro stared at Turna hesitantly. "...You're just going to leave when I fall asleep if I don't tell you, aren't you?"

"I don't know about them, but I am."

She thought for a few seconds, then sighed. "Ugh, fine. The coming of age thing we're talking about is a special ceremony birds take part in once they reach a certain age. Once a year in the winter, all the birds that want to participate and are old enough go to the biggest bird city in the world, Neverfall. On the last day of the year they all stay up until midnight, then they all say a special prayer to the five bird gods." Tok raised his wing. "Yes?"

"Who are the five bird gods? And what's the prayer?"

Kuro's face took on a conflicted expression, her eyes squinting and her beak squeezing tight. "...That's a very difficult question to answer." Phoenix rolled his eyes and bopped her lightly with his wing.

"What she means is that she's embarrassed to say it. The prayer is just something asking for safety in leaving the nest. And as for the five bird gods..." He looked to Kuro, who simply gave a tiny nod. "You kids remember Spark, Sheer and Blight? From Meril?" They nodded. "They're three of the five bird gods. Me and your mother are the other two."

"...Yeah that's believable enough," Tengma said. "But why would we pray to you guys? You're our parents."

"You're not going to," Kuro happily chirped, "because now you know how stupid the whole tradition is!" The kids all looked suspiciously at her, and Kuro's smile wavered. "Please?"

"I don't know," Shriek mused. "Sounds kinda fun."

"It is!" Phoenix ruffled his feathers a bit and took a seat. "It's not so much about the prayer or the staying up until midnight or whatever, so much as it's about young birds socializing and learning about each others cultures."

"Seems like a good idea to me," Tengma said. "We haven't exactly ever been around any birds other than each other and you two's friends. This would probably be really good for us."

"But-but-" Kuro flapped her wings around helplessly, "but what if you get hurt! What if something bad happens to one of you!"

"We'll be fine!" Tok hopped forward and raised his wing. "If we're going to the biggest bird city in the world, then won't it be really well protected?"

"Someone in the city might try to hurt you!"

"No one's gonna hurt us! We're strong!"

Shriek raised her wing. "Can we just get back on track?"

"That's a wonderful idea Shriek." Phoenix stepped forward and stood a bit taller. "Turna, Tengma, Tok and Shriek, you're the ones that are old enough to do the prayer. How many of you want to go?" All four owls raised their wings. "Well, that's decided then."

"But!" Panic spread across Kuro's face, "But what if something goes wrong!"

Phoenix looked to Kuro, then back to the kids. "You four get ready, all right? I'll tell you the way tomorrow; I'm going to talk with your mother." They nodded and went about about preparing for the tomorrow, gathering up things they would need in small bags they had gotten a while back from Naru. Kuro sat down in defeat, her head lowered. "Are you alright, dear?"

"...No. I'm scared."

He sat next to her and wrapped a wing around her side. "They'll be fine," he soothed, "they're adults now. They can protect themselves. _Especially_ Shriek."

"I know." She shuffled around a bit, leaning into his warm wing. "Everything's happening so fast though. It feels like just yesterday they hatched from their eggs. Or, in Shriek's case, it feels like just yesterday that I found her."

"It wasn't just yesterday, though."

"And I know that!" She flicked one of her wings in the air, and started moving it in a circular motion. "But-it feels wrong! It feels like-like I'm failing as a mother! I shouldn't be just letting them fly off into the world! They shouldn't have to protect themselves, _I_ should be there to protect them!"

He started rubbing her back gently. "They need to grow, Kuro. They need to grow and learn about the world, or they're going to start to resent you."

"...I know." She scooted over and leaned against him, tears welling in her eyes. "I'm so scared, Phoenix. I feel so weak. How is it that I can end a war without saying a word, but I can't raise a few children?"

"You've never been the best at thinking," he teased, and she laughed lightly. "Though, I'm not one to talk, am I?"

"No, you're not." The eagle snickered, and leaned against her. "Feels like we've been here before."

He hummed and closed his eyes. "Yeah, it was... what was the place called? It was that one island, with the big hill and all the multicolored spirits?" He chuckled as he reminisced, "we were sitting on some hill, and you made some joke about throwing me in the ocean."

She scoffed. "Right, that! And then you told me that you would have let me, and then we ended up like this."

"I feel like you skipped a few steps there, dear."

"None of the important ones, I'm sure." She shakes her feathers a bit and goes to stand up. "Come on. We should get some lunch."

"Not yet." He tries his hardest, and manages to pull her back down, though he knows she probably wasn't really resisting much. "We should talk for a while longer. I know that wasn't your only worry. Besides, we have some spare food."

She sighs and they lean against each other again. "Yeah, you're right."

"I'm always right."

A cheeky grin formed on her face. "No, you're not. You've been wrong about so many things, it's not even funny."

"Such as?"

"Whether or not I loved you." She rubs her face against his, and his entire body heats up.

"We-well, let's get back on topic!" She laughs happily, and doesn't object. "Come on. What else do you need comforting for?"

"Oh, shut up you dork." Kuro hums for a second, and her smile fades a bit. "Where will they stay? They don't have any family there..."

"I do." She looked at him in surprise. "My sister lives there with her kids and grandchildren. I can ask if they can stay at her nest."

Kuro raised her eyebrows with a grin. "She's still kicking? Old lady'll never give up, will she?"

"She's not _that_ old."

"Of course, of course." She frowned. "How, exactly, do you plan to ask her before the kids get there?"

"I'll just leave once I'm sure you're okay."

She sighed and leaned further against him. "Alright, fine. What about food? We can't just ask her to feed them..."

"They can hunt on their own. Besides, I'm sure their cousins would love to teach them how to hunt like most eagles."

Kuro squinted. "They have _cousins._ I have _nieces_ and _nephews_. Phoenix, what has my life turned into?"

"Something better than what it was?"

Kuro hummed lightly and closed her eyes. "Yeah. Yeah, this is better than constantly fighting."

He smiled and gave her a small peck on the head. "Any more concerns?"

"...How is everyone going to react to Shriek?"

Phoenix tapped his talons together. "I can tell my sister when I go to ask her if they can stay at her place. As for everyone else..." He rubbed her cheek with his beak. "I suppose we can only hope."

"I guess..." She sighed and leaned forward. "Thank you dear. You should probably get going, yes?"

"Yeah. Can you tell the kids what I'm doing?"

"Of course." She pecks him on the cheek, and he smiles brightly in return before taking off.

Kuro stands up with a stretch, and looks at her kids. They were growing up, but that didn't mean she couldn't take care of them anymore. A new conviction surged through her, and she went to help her kids prepare for their trip.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My only regret with the snowstorm arc was never using the pun "you reap what you snow".


	13. City

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neverfall.

"What is this nonsense?" Ori looked up at Ku, who was currently sitting on him. "You're not supposed to be here for another couple of hours." The owlet was staying over for a few days, so she wouldn't get bored while her siblings were away.

"I asked my mom, and she said I could come over early!" Ku spread her wings in glee, a happy smile coating her face. "So here I am!"

"Well, you _should_ have asked me," he grumbled, though he was honestly happy to have his cousin over. "Can you please get off me?"

"Mmmm... nah!"

Blaze tapped his fingers together, watching from the other nest with Sera as Ori tried to convince Ku to get off him. _"Hey Sera?"_

The other little spirit looked at him. _"Yes?"_

_"Kousin."_

_"No."_

* * *

"Stay safe! Make sure you eat enough! Don't follow mysterious strangers into featureless doors hidden at the ends of forgotten back alleys!"

"What?" Kuro grinned at Shriek's confused expression. "Dad, mom's being weird again."

"I have no control over Kuro," he looked to his eldest daughter with a smirk, "at least, not in any way that's appropriate."

Shriek grumbled and rolled her eyes. "Why do the two of you do this to me?"

"Because we care about you, dear." Kuro pulled Shriek into a hug, and patted her on the back. "Don't fly too far ahead of your siblings, alright? Try to go a little bit slower if you have to." Shriek returns the hug gladly, sinking into her mother's feathers. "And come back. _Please._ "

"We will. I promise." She pulls away from the hug, and Kuro lets her go. "We should be going now."

Phoenix rubs his daughter's head happily. "Good luck."

Kuro smiles sadly and settles down where she stands. "Here's to hoping you won't need it."

"Of course." Shriek turns and goes to the edge of the nest, joining her siblings, who had already said their goodbyes. "You guys ready?"

"Yep!" Tengma gave a happy salute. "We just gotta go southeast, yeah?"

"That's what dad said." The owls all nodded in unison, and took off into the skies, heading southeast just as their father told them to. Soon enough, they faded from their parents' sight, vanishing over the horizon.

Kuro let out a long sigh. "There they go."

"You say that like they're not coming back."

"What if they don't?"

Phoenix glanced at her. "Shriek just promised they would come back."

"But what if they _don't?_ What if something happens?"

"Kuro." He walked over and wrapped her into a hug, rubbing her back. "They will be _fine._ They're staying with my sister, and she'd sooner rip the city apart than let her nieces and nephews get, I don't know, _birdnapped_ or whatever."

Kuro snorted and pecked at his chest. "That's not a word, you dummy."

"Yeah, I know. Just wanted to hear you laugh."

The owl groaned in mortification and leaned into her mate's chest as he laughed. "Dork."

* * *

As soon as the owls passed over the horizon, Tengma made her way closer to Shriek. "Any plans when we get there?"

"I'm more concerned with getting there in the first place." She scanned their surroundings carefully, "we're probably going to start running into other birds soon, seeing as this is apparently some level of big deal. I'm concerned as to whether or not they're going to freak out when they see me."

"Oh... good point." The owl puffed her chest out slightly, raising her head higher. "Well, if anyone tries anything, we'll protect you."

Shriek chuckled lightly. "I know you will."

Their flight continued undisturbed for a good hour, the siblings gliding over long stretches of grassland, rolling hills speckled with flowers, and eventually crossing over a rather large lake, leading into a large forest. The day was relatively warm, and the four were able to fly along in peace. Shriek's eyes narrowed as the group began flying over the forest; there were several groups of birds emerging from the tree line, with many already in the air. The groups ranged in number from what seemed to be anywhere from three to seven or so, and the birds themselves were about as large as her younger siblings, leading her to believe that the groups were likely headed for the same destination as they were.

This theory was confirmed when another group of birds came up from behind them, gliding to the four's right. One of the birds - an owl themself - glided closer to Turna, who was furthest to the right of the four. "Hello there! Are you all going to Neverfall?"

"We are," Turna responded. "Is that what everyone here's doing?"

"Yes, we are! We wouldn't want to be late, after all." The owl chuckled, and Turna hummed in response. "Say, what's wrong with your friend there? They don't look so good."

"Nothing's wrong with her," he spat, causing the owl to back away a bit. "She had some issues, but she's gotten better."

"My apologies for assuming, friend. I suppose we will see you at the city?"

"Maybe." The owl nodded and left the four, flying ahead to catch up with their group, who had flown further ahead while they had been talking. "Weird guy."

"Maybe it's just how they talk around here," Tengma suggested. "We are getting pretty far from home."

Shriek looked around, noticing how the forest they were in seemed to have quite a few species of tree not present in Nibel, not to mention how it was simply much more _lively_ than Nibel. The noise from below and around them was starting to get to her, but she figured she'd be fine. "We are pretty far from home. At least we know we're not lost now." The owls nodded, and the group continued on their way.

The remainder of the flight was largely as uneventful as the first hour had been, though they ran into many more birds flying towards Neverfall. "How in the world are there so many birds?" Tengma looked around at a few other groups they had been flying near for the past couple hours. "And why have we never seen them?"

"Kuro chose to live in Nibel for a reason," Shriek explained to her. "She wanted to get away from her old life, so she tried to find a place that was as unimportant and unremarkable as possible."

"But Nibel's neither of those things!"

"It was when she first moved there." Tengma grumbled a little, focusing on what was ahead of her. "I will admit though, we have run into a lot of birds." She turned to her left. "Tok?"

"We've run into five-hundred thirty six birds so far." The other owls looked at him. "What? That was what you were asking for, right?"

"I... was expecting an estimate."

The owl smiled, puffing his chest out. "Well, you got something better!"

Shriek scoffed and looked forward, a fond smile on her face. "What we got was something eerie."

"It's not eerie!" The owl drifted closer and bumped into her wing. "I just like counting a lot!"

"Sure, nerd." Tok squawked indignantly, and took a light swing at his laughing sister's wing.

All of a sudden, there was a large increase in noise from the other groups near them. Shriek turned her attention forward, and gasped. On the horizon sat a large mountain, covered in a thick forest. Yet the entirety of the forest was nothing to a single, titanic oak tree that grew towards the peak of the mountain, one which easily towered over anything she had ever seen, including the Spirit Willow. Littered upon the mountain and tree alike were dozens upon dozens of buildings and nests, with birds flitting about between them, going about their days and seemingly preparing for the upcoming event.

Shriek smiled wide. "Well, I guess we're just about there!"

They made the rest of the distance to the city, and set down in a plaza within. The three smaller owls huddled up to Shriek, the larger owl looking around. "I'm pretty sure dad said someone would find us..."

"Excuse me?"

Shriek turned to her left, where a dark brown eagle a bit taller than her stood. "Can I help you?"

"You are Shriek, correct?"

"Yes, I am."

"Excellent!" She backed up in surprise at the eagle's enthusiasm. "I've been looking for you, cousin."

"Cousin..." She blinked. "Oh, right. It's nice to meet you..."

"Ezazen. Yes, I know it's weird, I didn't get to choose it."

Shriek laughed and waved her wing. "At least yours isn't just a sound."

"Fair enough!" He looked down to the three shorter owls. "And you are Tok, Turna and Tengma, yes?"

The three owls nodded, and Turna took a step forward. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Ezazen."

"Please, call me Ezen." The owls nodded, and he took a step back. "Now, would you like me to bring you to my mother?"

"That would be nice, thank you." Shriek looked around the plaza, her nerves slowly beginning to grow. There were more and more birds arriving, and the plaza was getting louder and louder. She could also see many of the older birds looking at her nervously; the younger ones may have just assumed that she was ill or perhaps some rare species, but the older ones knew better. They saw the telltale signs of someone that had been corrupted by decay, and their cautious stares were starting to get to her.

Ezazen and the owls flew into the air, and the eagle guided them up to a nest which rested on a massive branch halfway up the giant oak tree. The nest itself was rather large, and Shriek could tell that it was probably made with a large family in mind; hopefully one not too large for her to handle being around for the next few days.

There were already three eagles in the nest when they arrived, all the same dark brown as Ezazen; two were about the same size as her siblings, and Shriek was willing to guess that they were likely around the same age as well. The third was much larger, and closer to Phoenix in size. They showed some signs of aging, such as a few graying feathers and a look in their eyes that seemed to practically radiate wisdom. Yet, they still seemed to be in relatively good shape, and Shriek had little doubt in her mind that the eagle would be a formidable foe if she were to fight them. Not that that would happen, she reminded herself; this was herfamily. They weren't her enemies.

Ezazen landed before the older eagle, the four owls following right behind him. "Mother, they've arrived." The eagle hummed and motioned towards him with her wing, and Ezazen turned back to the owls. He motioned to the smaller eagles, who had walked over in curiosity. "Welcome to our nest. These are my kids, Lily and Samon. They're partaking in the prayer this year as well."

"It's nice to meet you!" One of the eagles hopped forward towards the owls. They were ever so slightly taller than the other, to a degree that the height difference was near unnoticeable. They also had three white feathers on their head, while their sibling did not. "I'm Lily, and that's Samon," she looked at Tok, Tengma and Turna, "it's kinda weird to think that you guys are our aunt and uncles." Her eyes scrunched up, "we don't have to call you aunt or uncles, right?"

"Nah," Tok said, "that would be weird. I'm Tok, the short one is Turna, and she's Tengma." He motioned his wing upward. "And that's Shriek. Dunno if she'll make you call her aunt." Turna grumbled something about 'not being that short'.

Shriek shook her head. "Just call me by my name, please."

Lily and Samon nodded their heads, and Ezazen cleared his throat. "And this," he motioned to the older eagle, "is my mother, Chima."

"It's nice to meet you, children." The eagle's voice was clear, and she had a warm smile. "I had never expected that Phoenix would ever have children, and yet here we are." She turned to her son, "Ezazen, how about you and your kids go show Tok, Turna and Tengma around the city? I'd like to have a quick chat with Shriek."

The younger owls looked up to Shriek worriedly, Turna shuffling slightly closer to her. "You okay with that?"

"Yeah," she responded, "I'll probably just stay here or go hunting once we're done talking though, alright?" The smaller owls nodded, and they took off from the nest, following Ezazen, Lily and Samon.

She turned to Chima. "What did you want to talk about?"

The eagle hummed again, and closed her eyes. "A few things. But first, would you like something to eat? The flight from Nibel must have been rather long."

"Oh, I can get my own-"

"Nonsense." Shriek blinked as her aunt reached into a small nook of the nest and pulled out a few worms, handing them to her. "Phoenix asked me to teach you and your siblings a few things about hunting, but that can come later."

"Um, thank you." She quickly scarfed down the worms, Chima watching silently. She gulped down the last one and cleared her throat. "Your questions?"

The eagle sat down quietly. "Of course. First and foremost, may I ask how long you have been free of decay?"

Shriek scrunched her eyes, and rubbed the side of her head with her wing. "Um... a while. You know the Spirit Festival?" Chima nodded. "A little before the most recent one."

"How nice." The eagle tapped her talons against the floor of the nest. "Your mother. Phoenix told me her name is Kuro, but I don't believe him in the slightest. She's actually Nevermore, isn't she?"

"Yeah, but he wasn't lying about her name being Kuro. She changed it to that a while ago, apparently."

Chima hummed once more, tapping her talons again. "Makes sense. Last couple of questions, alright?" Shriek nodded. "How are you?"

She blinked and leaned back in surprise. "Oh, um... well, fine, I guess. A little bit nervous to be so far from home, but I think I'll manage."

"Good, good." Chima hummed again, quieter than the previous times. "Phoenix said you have some issues with loud noises and being in crowded places?"

"Yeah, a little. I should be fine, though."

"Nevertheless, tell me if you ever need a break and I'll see what I can do, yes?"

She nodded slowly. "Yeah. I'll do that."

"Good." The eagle opened her eyes, the warm smile on her face still there. "Now. Do you have any questions for me?"

Shriek shuffled around a bit and sat down, curiosity in her eyes. "Yeah. Is anyone else here, or is it just you, Ezazen, and his kids?"

Chima's smile widened, a happy glint entering her eyes. "I also have one daughter that lives here, Everan. There is also Ezazen's mate, Cassia." Shriek hummed in acknowledgement, and the eagle cleared her throat. "Now that the more formal issues are out of the way, may I ask what you plan to do until the night of the prayer?"

"Um..."

Chima laughed heartily and stood up. "Of course. I know you told your siblings that you would likely either stay here or go hunting, but how about you and I go into the city proper for a bit? Get something a little sweeter to eat."

"That sounds... nice."

* * *

Shriek poked at the large loaf of bread Chima gave to her. They sat on one of the oak tree's branches, in front of something labeled as a 'Bakery', whatever that was. The loaf of bread had something sticky on it, which Shriek had carefully avoided touching with her talons after first being given the bread.

"Come on now," her aunt said, "take a bite. It's not poisonous, I swear."

"...What is it?"

"Cinnamon icing. Try it, it's sweet."

Shriek took a hesitant bite of the bread, and let it sit in her mouth for a moment. It was... actually pretty good. She swallowed and took another bite. Chima smiled brightly and took a bite of her own bread. "Good, right?"

"Yeah, it is." Shriek a few more bites, finishing her food. She looked to the eagle, and blushed as she realized that her aunt wasn't even done a quarter of her food. "S-sorry." Chima shook her head with a fond smile and broke what remained of her food in half, offering the part she hadn't bitten to Shriek. "Oh, I-I can't accept that, it's your food."

"Nonsense. You clearly don't eat many sweet things, and I doubt I'd finish this whole thing myself anyways." Shriek hesitated, but took the bread when Chima refused to back down.

The two ate their bread in silence, Shriek taking much smaller, slower bites. She looked out into the city, admiring the view of it all; the entire thing seemed to melt into the nature it was built upon, buildings seamlessly connecting to trees, ground, and rock. The whole city had a sort of energy to it, though it wasn't one that overwhelmed her or made her tired. Instead, she felt excited, anticipating the days to come. She was nervous to be away from home, that much was for certain. Yet, she wasn't alone here; she had her siblings, and she had her extended family, who seemed nice enough so far.

"It's quite beautiful, isn't it?" Shriek turned to look at her aunt, who was staring at the city wistfully. "There's plenty to see in the finer details as well."

Shriek hums and tilts her head curiously. "Like what?"

Chima stretches out her wings with a sigh. "Oh, all sorts. I know a doctor who works heavily with patients recovering from decay infections; I'm sure he'd love to meet you, and you could probably get some good advice out of it."

"That sounds nice." She took another bite from her bread. "Could we go there tomorrow?"

"Of course." Shriek relaxed a bit, humming happily. This was something, something new. But it wasn't confusing; she had her family to guide her, and she trusted them. This was new, and she welcomed it gladly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope this one wasn't too long.


	14. Appointment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shriek goes to a doctor, for once in her life.

"Carrots!" Ku throws a single, tiny carrot in front of Ori.

The spirit rolls his eyes. "Sure, Ku, why not."

Blaze reaches into one of the food barrels, and pulls out a stalk of corn, placing it with the carrot. "Oh hey, I forgot I had that. Nice find."

"Can we put berries in?"

"No Ku, then it wouldn't be vegetable soup. Also, I don't know how to mix them in properly."

Sera pulls a couple of potatoes out of one of the barrels, and throws it with the other food. _"Is that enough?"_

Blaze shakes his head. _"We need a little more."_

The little spirit nods, and reaches into the barrel one more time. They look around carefully, then pulled a few stalks of celery out, and put them with the rest of the food. "Alright!" Ori clapped his hands together, "soup time!" The little spirits and Ku cheered in unison, happy that they had been able to help.

* * *

Shriek tapped her wings together nervously. "How much longer?"

"Calm your nerves, dear." Chima patted her gently with a wing, "he will be here in just a moment."

They sat on one of the titanic oak tree's many giant roots, in front of a building sporting a sign that designated it as a doctor's office. The building took the shape of a dome, made from a base of stone with a wooden ceiling and walls. Like all the other buildings in the city, it lacked any sort of door, and instead simply had a large opening granting entrance; a necessity, considering most birds' lack of hands. Shriek thought the building looked kind of like a stone oven, if she was being honest.

There was a rustling, and a large crow drifted down from the skies, landing before them. "Chima! So good to see you again."

"Cala. Late to open as always?"

The crow laughed, shaking his head. "I'm not late, you're always early!" The eagle snickered, and her friend rolled his eyes. "Anyway! Is this your niece?"

"Yes, she is. Shriek, this is Cala; he owns this place."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Shriek." Cala walked into the building, Shriek and Chima following behind him. The place wasn't very heavily furnished; there was a bench, a couple of stools, and a table with some stuff on it, including a lantern. "So, Chima told me that you were interested in talking about your experiences with decay."

"I am."

"Good. Could you just take a seat?" He motioned to the bench, and Shriek sat down on it. "Do you have any questions yourself before we start?"

Shriek tapped her wings against the bench. "Not really."

"Very well then. First question: Chima told me that you've been cleared of decay since a bit before the last Spirit Festival. Is that correct?"

"It is."

"And when did you first start showing symptoms?"

"Since birth."

"Rather concerning... have your wings and body been like that since birth as well?"

"Yes."

"Have there been any lingering effects of decay on you?"

"Not as far as I'm aware."

The crow nodded. "That's good. Where there any major changes in your life around the time you broke out from the decay?"

"I was adopted by an owl named Kuro, which involved moving from Niwen to Nibel."

"And Phoenix is her mate?"

"Yes, he is."

"Do you have any other family besides the two of them?"

Shriek nodded with a slight smile. "Kuro and Phoenix's four biological kids, who are my siblings; I came here with three of them."

"Do you think having others to rely on helped you?"

"Absolutely. I would have just ended up wallowing in my own misery until the day I died if Kuro hadn't come along and helped me."

Cala hummed quietly. "When did you end up being orphaned in the first place?"

"My parents were already dead when I was born. None of the other owls in Niwen would take me in, because of me being infected with decay."

His eyes narrowed. "Did you have any friends before you were adopted?"

"No, everyone was either too scared of my, or were prevented from interacting with me by parents."

Cala nodded. "Would you say that combination of having no friends and being an orphan had a significant impact on the infection worsening?"

"Yeah. I felt like everyone hated me, and that, since no one wanted to show me kindness, I probably didn't deserve it."

"And you understand now that that isn't true, correct?"

Shriek let out a tired laugh. "You have no idea how many times Kuro's said that to me. Yeah, I know it's not true."

"Good, good." He ruffles his feathers a bit, and stands a little taller. "It seems to me like you had a rather regular infection, though its extremity is rather surprising. I must confess, I've never seen a bird become so heavily infected yet still make a full recovery."

Shriek's eyes widened in surprise. "Really?"

"Certainly. Being infected at birth allowed the decay to gain hold of parts of your brain as it developed, making it much more difficult to get rid of. I don't think I've ever seen someone infected at birth reach maturity and then still manage to recover. You must have a very strong willpower, young lady."

"Ah, it was mostly my family..."

Chima placed a wing on Shriek's back. "Don't discredit yourself, young lady. You're plenty strong in your own right."

Cala chuckled with a nod. "She's right, you know. Now, that's all I really had to ask you. Was there anything else you wanted to talk about?"

"No, I think I'll be good."

"Very well then. Have a good day!"

* * *

"...So, apparently my case is really rare, to the point that he doesn't think he's heard of someone recovering from such a heavy infection before."

"That makes sense." Tok looked out into the city, his eyes slightly unfocused. "You're really strong."

"Meh."

Tengma bopped Shriek's wing lightly. "No 'meh', you're great!" She turned to Turna. "Right?"

"Of course she's great. Shriek, you're awesome, and we're not going to tolerate you saying mean stuff about yourself."

She scoffed. "And what, pray tell, is my punishment for saying mean stuff about myself?"

"We hug you."

"I am bigger than the three of you combined."

"Perhaps," Ezazen walked over to the group, standing at the edge of the nest. "But I am bigger than you, and I will readily help them in hugging you."

Shriek rolled her eyes. "Whatever. You said you were going to show us a good place to hunt?"

"Absolutely. Follow me, if you would."

The eagle took off from the nest, his cousins following right behind him. They flew out of the city proper, and into the dense forest beyond it. Ezazen led them to a large lake, and set down on the ground. "This should be a good place. Do you all know how to hunt?"

"I do," Shriek said. She rose into the air, and sat down on her talons upon a large tree, looking around carefully. A sound grabbed her attention, and she turned her head a bit. She narrowed her eyes, and caught sight of a small wolf, walking alone. Memories of Howl surfaced in her mind, and her eyes narrowed further.

She prepared herself, turning her body to face the fox, slightly condensing her body and raising her wings. Once she was ready, she shot forward with a burst of speed. The wolf's ears twitched at the sound of her launching off the branch, and it turned towards her. Just as it turned enough to see her, she grabbed it with one talon, and crushed it.

Returning back to the group, Shriek dropped the wolf on the ground. "You guys ready to try it for yourselves?" Her siblings nodded excitedly, and took off into the forest themselves, spreading out so as to not get in each other's way.

"That was rather impressive." Shriek hummed at Ezazen's words, taking a bite out of her catch. "You must have quite a lot of experience."

"Meh. I'm more used to hunting in darker, more open spaces, but this still works."

Ezazen chuckled and smiled. "I'd expect nothing less from you, cousin." She shrugged, and took another bite.

Turna was the first one to return, a couple of mice in his talons, and one in his mouth. Tengma returned second with nothing in her talons, explaining that she had just stuck with catching bugs and worms.

Tok returned last, holding... a rock. "Tok," Shriek said, "I know you really like rocks, but they're not edible."

"Not eating the rock," he muttered, prying at it. It suddenly cracked down the middle, and dozens of tiny ants started spilling out, Tok quickly snapping them up as they tried to escape.

"Well I'll be," Ezazen muttered, shaking his head. "Never seen an owl hunt like that before."

"That's 'cause our mom's weird," Tok explained, snapping up the last of the ants he wanted.

Shriek shook her head and bopped his head lightly with her wing. "No Tok, it's because _you're_ weird."

"Doesn't matter who's weird," Turna said, swallowing the last of his mice, "what's important is that we all got something to eat." He scanned his eyes around the area. "Hey Ezen, why's there no one else here?"

"Most of the birds in the city work for money," he explained. "Not many hunters here, and the few there are tend to hunt elsewhere."

Shriek snickered. "Joke's on them, this place is great."

"I suppose. Are you all ready to go back?" The owls nodded, and followed Ezazen as he flew back to the nest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a short chapter, but the next one should be back to a more usual length.


	15. Birds Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shriek hangs out with her cousin and cousin-in-law.

The setting sun cast a faint glow upon the world, painting the skies a myriad of colors and heralding the coming of the night. The city of Neverfall was mostly quieting down for the night, though this could not necessarily be said of Shriek and two of her cousins. Everan and Cassia had arrived at the nest earlier that night, just as Shriek had finished eating, and had been quick to swoop her up into a bit of time for just the three of them to hang out.

The two eagles brought their cousin down into the city proper, guiding Shriek to the building that she had gone to with Chima a couple days prior. Her cousins had her sit down outside on the branch, then went into the the building to get some food for the three of them to eat.

A couple minutes later the two emerged, coming over to Shriek and sitting down on either side of her, Everan to her left and Cassia to her right. Everan handed Shriek a loaf of bread with cinnamon icing, just like the one she had the last time she was here.

"Sorry I didn't have the time to do this earlier," Cassia began. "Things have just been pretty hectic lately, what with the upcoming prayer and whatnot."

"It's alright, don't worry about it." Shriek turned to Everan, a sneaky smirk sliding onto her face. "And what's your excuse?"

Everan rolled her eyes and took a bite of her food. "I'll have you know that I have a social life, unlike that fool."

"Still can't get a date," Cassia teased.

"Oh give me a break already!" Shriek snickered quietly as Everan reached behind her to try and swat at Cassia. "Anyways. Shriek! How are you? Excited to be in the city?"

"I guess so. It gets a little noisy sometimes, but it's usually fine."

Everan slung a wing around Shriek's back, and pulled her cousin into a light hug. "No need to worry! We know _plenty_ of nice, quiet places to hang out. If you want, we can hang out at one of them once we've all eaten."

"Sounds like a plan to me." The owl took another bite from her bread, blinking as she realized that she was already almost done. "Umm..."

Everan snickered at her cousin's absentmindedness. "Want some more?"

"Please?"

* * *

"What in the world is this stuff?"

"Alcohol!" Everan placed three bottles on the ground, and pushed one of them to Cassia and one of them to Shriek, keeping the last for herself. "Try some, ya big stinker!"

Shriek pushed the bottle away cautiously. "Sorry, but my mom said that alcohol is bad for you, and I trust her."

"Your mom sounds like an old fart..."

Cassia pushed her sister-in-law gently. "Don't be a jerk. I'm sure that Shriek's mom is a wonderful lady... actually, Shriek? What's your mom's name again? Kuro, right?"

"Yeah, her name is Kuro, and she's the best mom ever."

"False," Everan stated confidently, taking a drink from her bottle. "My mom is the best mom ever."

"Yeah, well," she leaned in towards her relatives with a snicker and whispered, "my mom's a goddess, so _there."_ The two eagles blinked for a moment, and Shriek suddenly realized her mistake. "Wait, forget I said tha-"

_"No way,"_ Everan hissed, eyes wide. _"Is Kuro Lady Nevermore?"_

"...Yeah, she is."

The two birds gawked at her. "Well then," Cassia muttered, "I figured Phoenix probably wasn't telling the truth about who he was the mate of, but _Lady_ _Nevermore?_ That's just crazy." The owl narrowed her eyes. "Why did you and Phoenix both call Lady Nevermore Kuro?"

"She changed her name, so she could live her life in peace."

"...Oh." Everan and Cassia shifted uncomfortably on the spot. "Probably to avoid..."

"Yeah." Shriek scanned their surroundings quickly. They had flown further down the mountain, and now sat in an open field. There were several other birds around, relaxing and talking with each other in small groups. Throughout the field stood large bonfires, illuminating the cheerful birds. "Say, how about we all just forget this ever even happened? Doesn't alcohol help you forget things?"

Everan laughed and took a swig from the bottle sitting in front of her. "Ah, I wish that was how it worked. No, I'm afraid we'll all have to suffer the embarrassing memory of this moment for the rest of our lives."

"Drat," Shriek muttered.

"'Drat.'" Cassia echoed her, drinking from her bottle. "I can't believe you actually just said that. What are you, a stereotypical children's fairy tale villain?"

"Imagine being a fairy tale villain," Everan said, "but your mom is a goddess, so every time you try to take over the world or destroy something or whatever, she grounds you."

Shriek snorted, and took a small sip out of the bottle before her. It wasn't actually that bad; a little... sharp, she supposed was the way to describe it, but rather fruity at the same time. "Imagine that. Couldn't possibly be a disturbingly accurate description of my first meeting with Kuro."

"Look at you!" Everan swung a wing around her cousin, "not even drunk yet and you're already spilling all of your strange secrets to us!"

Shriek scoffed and nudged her cousin in the chest. "Get off of me, you monumental nerd."

"Then tell me more of your arcane secrets, Shriek! Tell us about all the worlds you've conquered, all the fair maidens you've captured and held at the top of mountains, lying in wait for some foolish hero to come along and try to save the day!" Everan grinned cheekily, "and tell us about how Kuro apparently got you to stop doing all of that stupid stuff!"

"Oh my - stop _shouting_ you dork, you're worse than Tok." With a large heave, Shriek manages to push her cousin off of her. "Please don't tell me you're already drunk. It's not even midnight."

Everan lets out an indignant scoff, flicking a wing towards Shriek. "Midnight! Dear cousin of mine, how long do you think it takes for alcohol to start affecting someone?"

"I don't know, but it should take longer."

Everan rolled her eyes and took another drink. "That's not how it works, Shriek. Now come on, tell us some cool things you've done!"

"Alright, alright. But!" Her tone took on a hint of mischief, "I want to present them in the form of a really dumb fairy tale."

Everan gasped and put her wings together. _"Yes."_

"Please no," Cassia groaned. "I don't want everyone to stare at us."

"Then I'll just tell it around one of the bonfires," Shriek offered. "Then, everyone will only be staring at me!"

Cassia groaned and buried her face in her feathers, then sighed and took another drink from her bottle. "Whatever. You two can go embarrass yourselves in front of a crowd, I don't care. Just make sure it's at a bonfire far from here!"

"You got it!" Everan motioned for Shriek to follow her, and led the owl over to a bonfire near the opposite side of the clearing, which was largely devoid of birds except for a couple of crows towards the very edge of the light the fire provided. Everan sat much nearer to the fire, and motioned towards Shriek with a wing. The owl cleared her throat, shook her head a few times, and began, crouching down into a more menacing pose.

"Long, long ago - actually it wasn't that long ago but that's not the point - in the far away land of Niwen, there was born an owl." She stalked around the fire, eyes gleaming from the light of the flames. "This owl was born within the midst of Niwen's decay with no family to love her, and with decay's grasp already strong within her mind. Because of this vile disease, every time she tried to get close to someone, they would always either run away in fear, or be taken away by their parents."

Everan pouted, and her wings fell to her sides. "Well that's just sad!"

"It was, but the owl's mostly over it now, so be quiet and let me continue." The brown-feathered eagle rolled her eyes, but motioned with one wing for Shriek to return to her story. "Anyways. The owl might be over it now, but she wasn't over it then. So, when she got bigger and physically stronger, and all the hate and pain and sadness in her heart was boiling over," the glow of the fire accentuated the wicked gleam that entered her eyes, "she struck back at the world that had rejected her."

By now, the crows towards the edge of the fire had walked a bit closer, curious about Shriek's story, though unaware of who it was about. "And how did she do that," one of them asked.

"By making sure that the whole thing drowned in silence." The gleam in her eyes seemed to grow brighter, and the fire roared a bit stronger, as if responding to her tale. "She ruled the resting grounds of her parents, alone. All those who tried to oppose her, who brought any sort of noise into her domain, or tried to bring light back to her dismal land, were completely and utterly destroyed."

"You're being ridiculous," one of the crows said. The crowd was growing slightly larger, more and more of the birds in the clearing coming over to see what was going on. "If what you're saying is true, then give an example."

Shriek snickered, circling the fire and sneering at the crow. "Gladly. Within Niwen, there _lived_ another creature by the name of Howl. Howl _was_ a large, menacing wolf, and one of the greatest predators within Niwen outside of the owl's domain. One day, however, the fool strayed too far into the owl's land of pure silence, bringing its obnoxious howls that it was named for. So, the owl found the wolf," she lurched towards the crow, _"and turned him to stone."_

The birds shivered, and the crow backed away from Shriek, a small amount of fear apparent on their face as the owl stalked slightly closer. "Want another example," she asked. "I've got _plenty."_

"N-no thank you, you've convinced me."

"Pity." Shriek stalked back closer to the fire. "Anyways. Luckily enough, the story does have a happy ending. One day, an owlet from a foreign land fell into Niwen, alongside a spirit. Originally, the spirit wished only to retrieve the owlet, and leave Niwen. However, the owlet had fallen within the cursed owl's domain, and soon after the spirit and owlet were reunited, the pair ran into the silence's enforcer."

"The spirit escaped relatively unscathed, but the owlet was gravely wounded. In order for the spirit to save the owlet, they had to return the light to Niwen. And return the light they did." She sighed heavily, her stance becoming slightly less menacing. "The owl, of course, tried to stop the spirit. The spirit, however, was in possession of not only the motivation to return the light, but the skill to do so as well. They managed to defeat the owl in combat, and returned the light to Niwen, saving the owlet's life in the process." A raven towards the back raised their wing. "Yes?"

"What happened to the owl? And the spirit?"

"The spirit returned to their home, though I've been told there was quite the adventure just to get that done. I don't know much about it myself, though, so I'm not going to tell a story that I don't fully understand. The owl's fate, on the other hand, I know quite well."

Shriek walked up to the fire, basking in its warm glow. "The owl returned to her home of silence, believing that there was no future for her. Shortly after the decay had been lifted from Niwen, however, she received a visitor; the mother of the owlet she had harmed, an owl by the name of Kuro."

"Let me guess," the crow from before interrupted. "This 'Kuro' killed the decayed owl on the spot, correct?"

"Oh, far from it. Actually, Kuro adopted the owl." The birds in the clearing stared at her in shock. "Surprising, I know. Anyways, long story short, Kuro helped the owl get better and recover from the decay, and now the owl, Kuro, the owlet, Kuro's mate, and all of Kuro's other kids are one big, happy family."

Shriek bowed, and the various birds surrounding her gave her a round of cheers. "Quite the story," the crow said. "But tell me, how do you know all this?"

Shriek turned to the crow with a blank stare. "Are-are you joking?"

"I don't see why I would be joking."

Shriek looked around, staring at all the birds in the clearing. "Have-have none of you ever seen a decayed owl before?" There was a round of 'no's and shook heads, and Shriek sighed. "Well there goes my big reveal," she grumbled under her breath. "Whatever. I heard the story from a friend, no clue if any of it is true or not."

The assembled birds grumbled in disappointment, most of them leaving and either splitting off back into their little groups, or going home for the night. A few stayed behind, however, those being Everan, Cassia - who had walked over in the middle of Shriek's story - and the raven who had asked what happened to Shriek and Ori. "Erm... excuse me?"

"Yes?"

"You... you're the decayed owl, aren't you?" Shriek and her cousins stared at the raven, Shriek in glee and her cousins in wariness. "You knew so much about what happened, it seemed really ridiculous that you'd just heard the story from a friend."

Shriek laughed happily and walked over to the raven, swinging a wing over her shoulder. "At least one of you is smart!"

"Pretty sure everyone else is just kind of drunk..."

Shriek shrugged noncommittally. "Meh. That just means that you're the only smart one for entirely different reasons."

"Hey," Everan teased, "what are you insinuating?"

"Why, nothing, dear cousin!" The eagle and owl stared off for a few seconds, before both devolved into giggling fits. "H-heya," Shriek turned back to the raven, who seemed mildly uncomfortable. "My name's Shriek. What's your name?"

"...Remia."

Shriek threw her wings into the air. "Remia! Wonderful name, I love it! Hey, wanna hang out with us? I promise I'm not gonna eat you. That would be rude of me."

"Are... you okay?"

"There is a very high possibility that I do _not_ have a very good alcohol tolerance."

Cassia let out an exasperated sigh. "You are not _drunk_ Shriek, you're probably just tired."

"Prove it!"

"You haven't even drank a single bottle! You didn't even drink half a bottle! There is no way in the name of Nevermore that you are already drunk!"

"Yeah, probably." Shriek suddenly let out a loud yawn, her wings stretching out involuntarily as she did so. "Wow. I used to be able to go days without sleep. What in the world happened to me?"

"A loving family?" Everan suggested. "A stable source of food? Friends?"

"I thought we _weren't_ going to insult me tonight." Shriek hobbled over to the bonfire sleepily, curling up beside it. "Night."

Everan rubbed her wings together nervously as she watched her cousin try and get comfortable. "Ummm... Shriek? Chima's going to freaking _end_ me and Cassia if we don't get you back before sunrise." Shriek just shrugged, unperturbed by the possible deaths of her cousins. "Shriek please, I'm too stupid to die."

"Only half that statement is true," she muttered, though she did sit up. "Hey, Remia? See you around?"

The raven looked at her from the edges of the fire's light. "I _just_ met you. I barely know you."

"So?"

Remia stared at her blankly. "...Sure. See you here tomorrow, around noon?"

"Sounds like a plan to me." Shriek rolled her wings lightly, her cousins standing up and joining her. "See you later!"

"Bye..?" Shriek, Everan, and Cassia all took off into the night sky, Cassia leading the way back to the nest.

"She seems nice," Cassia commented.

Shriek hummed tiredly, rolling her wings again. "I'm just glad I got a friend I'm not related to."

"You have known her for less than an hour."

"Oh, be quiet and let me enjoy myself. I'll probably start panicking tomorrow morning, so I need as much optimistic memories as possible to try and back me up."

As they approached the nest, Shriek let out another tired yawn. Today had been a good day, in her opinion. Hopefully tomorrow would be just as good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was originally going to have Shriek singing instead of telling a story, but it just didn't really work, so it got changed.


	16. Friendship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shriek spends time with her new friend!

Shriek soared through the skies, eyes set on the clearing she had been at the night prior. The bonfires were now all put out, the flame's light unneeded during the daytime. Towards the edge of the clearing, a dark shape stood out among the greenery.

She glided down to it, and shook her head to try and shake some feathers out of her face. "Good morning. Thanks for showing up, I know this whole thing was probably really sudden and stupid and-"

"Shut," Remia walks forward, and puts a wing up to Shriek's beak, "up. I never do anything anyways; this'll be a nice change of pace."

"...That's really sad."

The raven rolled her eyes at the owl. "Well, I guess we're in the same boat. We should find more lonely birds with no friends, social life, or hobbies and start a club."

"Hey now, I have hobbies. All of them are centered around making fun of my younger sibling's stupidity, but they're still hobbies."

"You have siblings?"

Shriek nodded, brushing lightly at her head to try and get a stray feather to go down. "Yeah, four, but only three of them are here in the city. The fourth's back in Nibel."

"Nibel... they had a blindness a few years ago, didn't they?"

"Yeah, they did." She kept brushing at her head, the feather refusing to go down. "That was before I got there, though; it was long healed by the time Kuro adopted me."

"That's good to hear. Is it a nice place?"

"Yeah, I'd say so." She growled, wildly brushing at her head. This _one feather..._

"Would... you like some help with that?"

_"Please."_ The raven laughed and leaned up to Shriek's forehead, plucking the feather out with her beak. "Thank you so much, I owe you my life now."

"That seems a bit extreme..."

"Meh." Shriek shuffled around awkwardly on the spot. "So... what now?"

"I don't know, this was your idea."

"Hmm... wanna go find my siblings and spy on them?"

Remia shrugged. "Sounds good enough to me."

* * *

"That's Turna." The raven and owl sat on two large trees within the hunting grounds Ezazen had shown Shriek and her siblings a couple days earlier, watching the middle child of the owl family from afar. "Three guesses what he's doing out here."

"Hunting?"

"Nope, not even close."

Remia turned to the owl, confusion all over her face. "This... is a hunting grounds. What in the world would he be doing here other than hunting?"

"Not telling until you use your next two guesses!"

The raven grumbled and turned back to watching the smaller owl. He was facing a tree, and seemed to be... talking? While making gestures with his wings? "Is he... preparing a speech?"

"Not... really? Kind of, I guess, but it's not a speech for a big audience or whatever."

"Uh... I don't know. He's completely lost his mind and is talking to himself in the woods?"

"That's not... well actually, I can't prove that he hasn't lost his mind, but no, that's not what he's doing." The owl leaned towards her friend, mischief shining in her eyes. "He's practicing his flirting."

"Seriously?" Shriek nodded excitedly. "Who is he practicing it for?"

Shriek shrugged, turning back to watch her brother. "Not sure. Probably one of the Moki in Niwen though. I think I saw him staring at this one librarian one time."

"At least he has good taste."

"That's debatable."

Remia lightly batted at Shriek with her wing. "Come on, Shriek. You should be supportive of your little brother."

"Yeah, I know. Wanna go find one of the other two now?"

The raven stared at her for a moment. "Are - are you trying to avoid the subject by just straight up _leaving?"_

"Yes."

"Huh. Sure, let's go."

* * *

"Behold, Tengma, scourge of your dignity." Remia and Shriek had flown back into the city proper, and after asking Chima about Tengma's whereabouts, had flown down to the bakery Shriek had been to twice before. The two large birds watched from on top of a root behind Tengma, as the smaller owl happily ate away at a loaf of plain bread.

Remia turned to Shriek, her beak slightly open in confusion. "What?"

"The first thing she did once she was sure I was settled into our nest back home was prank me nonstop for a full day."

"...Oh."

Shriek snorted. "'Oh' indeed. Trust me though, if you ever meet her properly, you'll like her. She's really smart and creative, she just applies herself towards pranks instead of anything actually useful."

"Pranks are plenty useful."

"How so?" Remia blinked, and shuffled back and forth on her feet for a few seconds. "Remia? You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Just forget I said that, okay?"

Shriek looked to her new friend in concern. "You sure? You don't want to talk about it?"

"No, it's fine. I was just going to say a dumb joke."

Shriek's face lit up. "Well, I love dumb jokes! If you think up any more, you don't have to be nervous about saying them, okay?"

"Really? I don't even know you that well..."

"You don't need to know someone well to share a laugh with them."

Remia turned to the owl and smiled softly. "I guess so. Say, can we go find the last of your siblings?"

"We don't have to; I guarantee you he's already found us."

"What?"

"Hi!" The raven jumped forward with a shriek, bumping into Shriek, who was laughing her head off. She whirled around to find another owl standing behind them, one of similar height and general appearance to Tengma and Turna, though she could tell that this one was slightly shorter than the other two. "I'm Tok." He tilted his head slightly. "Are you Shriek's friend?"

Remia looked down at the smaller owl. "Erm... yes, I am. It's nice to meet you Tok. How did you find us?"

"You guys aren't very good at subtlety; Tengma and Turna are just really oblivious." He motioned to his non-adopted sister below, who was still oblivious to the fact that she was being watched. "Especially Tengma. She might be clever, but she's really easy to sneak up on. Just like you!"

"...How long have you been following us?"

"All morning! Why do you ask?"

Remia turned to Shriek slowly. "Yeah," the owl said, "he's like this sometimes."

"But... why?"

"Can someone answer my question?"

Shriek placed one of her wings in front of Tok. "Silence nerd, the adults are talking."

"I'm an adult too!"

"Yeah, but me and Remia are more of adults than you."

"That doesn't make sense!"

"It makes perfect sense, dork."

"Shriek?" The owls turned to Remia, who was standing there awkwardly. "How about we just answer his question, then you answer my question, then we just move on from this?"

"His question?"

Tok humphed in annoyance. "Why did she ask me how long I've been following you guys for?"

"The longer you followed us for, the creepier it seems."

"...Oh." The owl rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed at his actions. "Sorry..."

"No worries," Remia said. "But please don't do it again." The owl nodded in conformation of her request. "Now Shriek? My question?"

"There is no explanation for Tok's actions. The sooner you learn to accept his strangeness, the sooner you can appreciate it."

Tok ran over to his sister, wrapping his wings around one of hers. "Thank you Shriek! You're my second favorite sibling, right after Ku!"

"That's fair." She looked up to see a look of confusion on Remia's face. "Ku's my fourth sibling, who's still back in Nibel. She's not old enough to do the prayer thing yet."

"Then why are you here, Shriek?" The two owls blinked. "Oh, right. You haven't done the thing yet, have you?"

She shuffled nervously from wing to wing. "No, I haven't. There's not an upper limit on how old someone can be to do the prayer, is there?"

"Oh no, don't worry, there's not. I just hadn't realized that you probably hadn't done the prayer yet, and birds don't usually do the prayer more than once." The owl let out a sigh of relief.

"Good, good. Hey, have you already done the prayer?"

"Yeah, most birds do it the year they come of age. Don't worry though, no one's going to judge you for taking a while to do it."

The large owl looked to her new friend worriedly. "You're certain?"

"Absolutely. Actually," she snickered, and partially covered her beak with one of her wings. "According to my grandpa, my dad didn't do the prayer until after I was born."

"Do you believe him?"

"Oh, absolutely." Shriek and Tok both snickered at her words. "Say, when did your parents do the prayer?"

The two owls both froze. "Our... parents," Shriek said, laughing nervously. "Ah... well, um, I... I'm not sure when they did the prayer, to be honest."

"Yeah," Tok began, an uneasy grin on his face. "They might not have even done it at all, for all we know."

"Quick question, you two." The owls nodded. "What are you hiding?" They both tensed up, looking away from the raven. "Look, I'm not going to force you to tell me, but... I'd really appreciate it."

"...Meh. Couldn't hurt too much, right?"

Shriek swatted lightly at her brother. "Tok, whenever someone says that something 'can't hurt' or 'can't be bad', it always ends up being even worse than they thought it would be."

"Huh. Good point, but I still think we should tell her."

"You were just on board for lying!"

"I changed my mind."

The larger owl let out a few confused squawks, then sighed, shaking her head. "Tok, how would we even prove it?"

"...Oh. Right."

Shriek turned to Remia, an apologetic expression on her face. "Look, we probably should tell you, but trust me, you wouldn't believe us. There's... a chance we might be able to tell you later on, but I wouldn't count on it if I were you."

"That's alright." The raven shrugs lightly. "Got anything else you want to do?"

The owls looked around, searching for something the three could do. "How about we just go down and get some food to eat?" Tok suggested, shrugging a bag the two birds only just now realized he was carrying. "I have some money on me."

"Sounds good to me," Shriek said with a shrug. "Come on, let's see if we can scare Tengma on the way."

* * *

Remia and Shriek touched down in the clearing they started their day in, the grassy field now illuminated by the lit bonfires. Tok had gone back to the nest after eating, joined by a thoroughly spooked Tengma, and Shriek and Remia had spent the rest of the day flying around the city and chatting.

"Well, it was great hanging out with you," Shriek said as she turned to Remia. "Maybe we could do this again?"

"That sounds like a good idea." The raven rubbed her wings together nervously. "Thank you for hanging out with me Shriek."

The owl's eyes widen slightly in amusement. "Are you kidding? I should be thanking you, not the other way around."

"You're sure?"

"Of course! I was the one that asked you to hang out with me."

"Yeah, but I could have not shown up..."

Shriek smiled, and raised a wing slightly. "You could have," she stated softly, "but I had faith that you wouldn't."

The raven smiles slightly and lets out a small sigh. "Thank you, Shriek. That's really nice of you to say."

"Slightly disturbing that you consider having a basic amount of faith in someone as exceptionally nice, but I think we can save that for another day!" Remia rolled her eyes and snickered fondly, swatting at her new friend.

"Hush you, I'm fine."

"Like I said, we can save that blatant lie for another day!" Remia groaned in exasperation, but didn't bother arguing. "So... wanna do anything else while we're here?"

Remia shrugged, looking around the clearing. "I don't know... I think I might have some alcohol back at home." She throws a tired smile to her friend. "Want to get drunk?"

A look of concern placed itself on Shriek's face. "Erm... no." The raven laughed, but Shriek's expression remained. "Say, you want to maybe... hang out for a while? Sit down and talk?"

Remia looked at the owl for a second, her smile quickly turning from tired to soft. "Yeah," she says, "that sounds great."


	17. City Bird

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shriek and Remia talk about stuff.

Shriek hummed, biting away at her bread. She was spending a lot of time at this bakery, wasn't she?

A dark shape flitted down from the sky. "Figured I'd find you here." Remia touched down gracefully next to Shriek. "You sure do like it here, don't you?"

"Food's good," she said, smiling lightly. "Plus, I'm pretty new to sweet things."

Remia's face slowly donned a sneaky grin. "You know Shriek, that's really sad."

The owl scoffed and poked at her friend with one wing. "How dare you use my own words against me. That's just rude," she said, her smile only growing. She was glad that her friend felt comfortable making jokes around her. "You here to hang out?"

"Pretty much." The raven settled down next to her friend. Despite the chill of winter, the birds' feathers and the sun high in the sky kept them warm. "It sure is a nice day, isn't it?"

Shriek hummed pleasantly, swallowing another bit of her food. "Sure is. Wanna do anything?"

"Not really. Do you?"

Shriek hummed to herself and looked down the mountain, admiring the rest of the city. Many of the buildings lacked roofs, with the few that held them tending to be exceptionally large. They also were almost all made of logs and sticks, and she could see that some of the ones on the giant oak tree were at least partially carved into the tree itself. She remembered Cala's doctor's office using stone in its base, but aside from that, despite the city sitting on a mountain there was a curious lack of stone used throughout it. Her curiosity piqued, she turned to Remia. "There's not really anything I'd like to do, but there's plenty I'd like to know."

Remia smiled and nodded. "Right, you don't know much about the city, do you?" Shriek nodded bashfully, looking away slightly. "Well, I've lived here my whole life, so feel free to ask away."

"Thank you a lot Remia, I really appreciate it." The raven just shrugged and motioned to Shriek with one wing. "Right, questions. First off, why's there so little stonework in the city? I figured there would be a lot more, seeing as the city's on a mountain."

"Ah, that. Well, that's actually one of the biggest flaws to the city having pretty much no one but birds: we can't carve things like stone very well. Sure, the stronger of us can break stones pretty easily, but carving them into usable shapes is a little hard when our beaks and talons are all we have to work with."

"There was a doctor's office I went to a few days ago that had stone and more carved out wood and furniture in it."

Remia nodded, a small smile on her face. "Cala, right? Yeah, he gets customers from all over the world, so he's got connections."

"Connections?"

She smiled and spread her wings out. "Yeah, all sorts of connections. The construction's from this tribe of multicolored spirits off to the east which live on an island."

"Neat." She wondered briefly if Kuro or Phoenix had ever been to the island Remia was talking about. Or maybe Nibel's Spirit Tree was from there? "Um, next question. My mom said that Neverfall is the biggest bird city in the world. Is that true?"

Remia took a moment to think, sorting through her memories. "As far as I'm aware, yeah it is. There are other bird cities, but I've never been to any of them..."

"Have you ever been anywhere other than Neverfall?"

The raven hesitated for a moment before she answered. "No. I haven't."

"...Do you want to?"

Remia looked to Shriek, her eyes slightly scrunched up. "Why do you ask?"

"Well... I think you might enjoy visiting Nibel." Remia's eyes went from scrunched to widened in an instant. "Not that you have to or anything. But if you ever want to try and maybe expand your horizons or something, I'd be willing to show you around Nibel. It's a great place, and it's pretty quiet too. A lot quieter than the city, at least."

"...Thank you Shriek. That sounds like a pretty good idea." The owl smiled at her friend, and Remia couldn't help but smile back. "Now, can we get back to your questions?"

"Oh, right, sorry!" Remia patted her on the back, and motioned for her to talk. "Uh, are there any other big ceremonies like the prayer, or is it the only one?"

"There are some others."

Shriek stared at her when she didn't elaborate. "...So are you gonna tell me about them?"

Remia waved her wing in a circle. "You sure you want me to? There's a lot of them..."

"How many?"

The raven shuffled uncomfortably. "...Two."

Shriek covered her beak with a wing to try and snuff out a snicker. When Remia's uncomfortable expression didn't fade, however, she quickly stopped. "Hey," she soothed, "you could have just said you weren't comfortable talking about them."

"It's not that," Remia assured her, "I'm just concerned they might seem kind of weird to you. You don't really have much knowledge of bird culture as far as I know, so some of the details of the ceremonies or celebrations or whatever will probably sound really weird."

Shriek shook her head and gave her friend a warm smile. "Trust me Remia, I've seen, heard, and done some pretty weird things before. And besides, I'd love to know more about my own culture, even if it might seem a little strange at first."

"...Yeah, good point." Shriek rolled her eyes as Remia cleared her throat, and began to speak. "First up would be a sort of prayer which takes place exactly half way through the year. It's a simple thing where birds wish for the one thing they want most before they go to bed."

"Why do they do that?"

Remia shrugged. "No idea."

"Do you do it?"

"Yeah, sometimes."

"What do you wish for?"

The raven smiled and turned to Shriek. "Sorry, can't tell you."

"Aw, not even a hint?"

"Nope!" Shriek grumbled, but didn't push her any further. "Anyways. The last one is an actual celebration which happens part way between the two prayers. On the day of the celebration, every bird performs one especially good act for someone they care about."

"Has anyone ever done anything memorable for you?"

Remia looked off into the distance and smiled. "Yeah," she said softly, "when I was younger, my mom and dad let me stay up way later than usual to watch the stars." The raven chuckled and shook her head. "It probably doesn't sound like much, but I used to be obsessed with the stars when I was younger, and my parents were usually really strict about me getting to bed on time, so having some time to stay up was great."

"Your parents sound pretty cool."

"They are." She turned to Shriek once again. "So, what else do you want to know?"

Shriek hummed and took a moment to think. She suddenly remembered her bread and took a bite from it. "I dunno. How was growing up here?"

"Good," Remia answered. "Even with how hectic and loud things can be, the city honestly hasn't changed much since I was a kid." Remia tapped her talons against the tree branch. "Do things change in Nibel much?"

Shriek waved her wing vaguely. "I wouldn't really know. I haven't lived there long enough yet."

"But based off of your experience so far?"

The owl shrugged. "I'd say it changes a lot, but that might just be because of me moving in and a couple other things."

"What sorts of things?"

"It's... kind of hard for me to explain. If you ever come to Nibel, I can probably ask someone else to tell you."

Remia nodded with a quiet hum. "Hey, is it okay that I'm asking so many questions? Seeing as this was originally you asking me questions."

Shriek blinked in surprise. "Oh, I hadn't even noticed," she said, causing the both of them to snicker. "It's okay though. Anything else you want to know?"

"Erm... do you ever miss Niwen?"

Shriek looked out to the horizon, towards where she was pretty certain Niwen was. "I don't know. I don't know if I ever really had anything to miss."

"Really? Nothing at all?"

"...I guess there was my parents' grave." Remia flinched back a bit. "Pretty morbid, huh?" The raven only nodded. They sat in silence for a few minutes, Shriek finishing her bread as they looked out into the bustling city. Shriek eventually got up with a stretch of her wings and a small yawn. "I should get going. I wanna make sure I know exactly what I'm supposed to do tomorrow."

Remia hummed and nodded. "Good luck not messing up your words." Shriek poked her friend playfully with a laugh, and set off into the sky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this chapter is so much shorter than others. Next chapter will be the night of the prayer, and should hopefully return to a more normal length.


	18. Growing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The night of the prayer.

Shriek sat upon a tree in the hunting grounds, and watched as the moon reached its pinnacle in the sky. She took a deep breath, and lowered her head.

"Five bird gods, please give me strength as I grow." Shriek let out a breath and looked up to the sky. She shook her head back and forth, ruffling some of her feathers up in the process. She gazed into the sky and sighed. "I guess this is as good a time as any to get some stuff off my chest."

"Well... we're doing good. Everyone here's been really nice to us, so that's great. I made a new friend too. She's a raven named Remia. I think you would like her." Shriek scratched the back of her head a bit, thinking on what to say. "There's a bakery here I really like. Tried sweet stuff for the first time. It was pretty good."

"I'm... a little nervous. About... well, not everything, but a lot of things. Mostly of losing everyone." She takes a deep breath in and steels her nerves. "I don't know what everyone plans to do after this. I don't know what _I'm_ going to do after this. Everything's uncertain, and not in a good way. Not in the sort of way that Nibel's uncertain."

"I know you're scared of everyone moving away, and I am too. But... I don't think that's going to happen yet. And when it does happen, I don't think it's going to be as bad as we're afraid of it being. Turna's upset with how overprotective you are of all of us, but I think he'd still miss you if he left Nibel entirely. Tengma wants to see more of the world, but she'll probably still visit home often. Tok..." Shriek let out a quiet chuckle. "Yeah, I don't know about him. Your guess is as good as mine. Still, I'm pretty sure he wants to stay close."

Shriek looked over to the city, still able to see it from within the hunting grounds. "I think everything's gonna be fine." She looked back up to the moon and smiled. "I'm gonna go celebrate with everyone else now. See you tomorrow." Once she finished speaking, Shriek took off into the night sky, and flew into the city proper.

Torch lights flickered in the streets, casting their glow through the night. The entirety of the mountain city bustled with activity, birds going every which way in their excitement. Shriek rose higher up through the city, eventually reaching the nest, which currently only held Chima. The eagle waved to her as she saw her approach, and Shriek landed with a wave of her own.

"Hey aunt Chima," she greets. "How are you?"

"I'm quite fine," the older bird responds. "How are you doing?"

"I'm alright," she said. "Where's everyone else?"

"They have already gone further down to celebrate. Everan said they were going to a field you had gone to with her and Cassia a few days ago. I assume you remember which one?"

"Yeah, I do," she assured. "Are you gonna be joining us?"

The eagle tilted her head and looked away from Shriek, humming quietly. "No, I'm going to be relaxing for a little while longer before I go to sleep."

Shriek nodded and turned around, facing towards the clearing she remembered hanging out in with Everan and Cassia. "Alright, you enjoy yourself. Have a good night."

"You as well Shriek."

She set off into the night sky once more, slowly drifting down towards the clearing. It was much more heavily populated than it had been a few nights ago, and she could feel her nerves starting to act up as she flew closer. She scanned the crowd and quickly found most of her family next to one of the bonfires, talking among each other and various other birds.

Tok was the first one to see her approaching, and had run up to her by the time she landed on the ground. "Hey Shriek! How are you doing? Already got the prayer done?"

"Yeah, I already did it," she replied, "and I'm alright. It's kind of loud, and sort of crowded, but I think I'll be fine for at least a little while."

"Nice!" The smaller owl hopped around one of her wings excitedly. "I'll see you later!" Shriek chuckled at his enthusiasm, and watched as he ran off into the crowd.

Shriek made to start wandering through the crowd herself, when a blur of brown feathers passed into her vision. Lily settled down in front of her, Samon following close behind. "Hey you two, what's up?"

"Nothing much," Lily said. "We just wanted to spend some time hanging out with you, seeing as we haven't gotten the chance to yet."

Samon walked forward a bit. "It's been nice having you over, even if we haven't seen each other much." The eagle tilted his head. "Have you enjoyed your stay?"

"Yeah, it's been great." Shriek looked around, her head ringing the slightest bit from all the noise around her. "What are you two planning on doing, now that you're adults?"

The siblings looked at each other for a moment, then shrugged and turned back to Shriek. "We're planning on opening a flower shop," Lily said.

"A flower shop, huh? Sounds interesting."

"We're still trying to figure out a few things," Samon said, "but we think we should be able to open it by the start of summer at the latest."

Shriek nodded, a smile spreading across her face. "Well, it certainly sounds interesting. Have you talked with anyone else about this?"

Lily nodded. "We've told our parents about it, and they said that they'd be willing to help us if we needed them to."

"That's great to hear! What are you going to name it?"

"We haven't decided on one yet," Samon said. "We've got a few ideas, but we're still trying to decide which one we like best."

"Well, I'm sure that whatever name you decide on will be great."

Both eagles nod, and Lily takes a step forward. "Thank you Shriek, we really appreciate it." Lily looked up at the sky for a moment and frowned, then looked back to Shriek. "We're actually going to be really busy tomorrow, so we're going to go home now. We hope you have a nice rest of your night!"

"Thank you." The eagles wave goodbye to her, and then fly off back towards the nest. "What to do now..."

Shriek wandered into the crowd, slowly making her way around. She stuck mostly to the edges of the clearing, so she could easily leave if she got overwhelmed. She saw her siblings gathered around a bonfire, telling stories about Nibel to a group of birds. Turna noticed her and waved, to which she waved back. She didn't want to interrupt the stories they were telling, so she simply watched them from afar.

A couple minutes later, Shriek felt a light tap against her back. She turned around to see Cassia standing behind her, a gentle smile on the eagle's face. "Do you mind if I sit here?"

"Not at all." The eagle moved to Shriek's right side and sat down, shaking her wings lightly. "How are you?"

"Oh, I'm great. It's a beautiful night, everyone is happy, and my kids are ready for their futures."

Shriek turned to her cousin-in-law. "Do you think I'm ready for my future?"

The eagle took a moment to think. "I believe that only you can decide whether or not you are ready for your future."

"...But... you just said..."

Cassia stuck her tongue out at Shriek. "Oh, I know what I just said! Lily and Samon already told me that they feel ready for their futures."

"Right, right." Shriek looked over to her siblings, who were still in the midst of one of their stories. "Well... thanks for the talk, I guess."

Cassia laughed and rubbed Shriek's back. "Shriek, if you need to clear your thoughts out a bit, I would recommend going for a quick flight. It always helps me to sort through whatever I may be thinking about."

"...That sounds like a good idea. Thanks Cassia." The eagle hummed gently and retracted her wing as Shriek stood up. She quickly rose into the air, then sped off into the night sky.

Shriek soared out into the dark, quickly leaving the city's edge. She sighed as the wind whipped past her, the cold of the night long since settled in the air. Shriek dipped downward, then leveled back out once she got closer to the ground. She fanned her wings out, letting herself glide through the air, before she started flying upward again. She rose higher and higher into the sky, and once she was satisfied with her height, she turned around and looked down at the city.

Neverfall shone with light, thousands of torches and bonfires lit for the night. The mountain city practically radiated warmth, and Shriek let out a tired sigh. She looked forward to being back home, but she would miss this place.

...Maybe that's what her future would be about. Shriek rolled her head and dipped back down, shooting downward for a bit before leveling out once more, thoughts filling her head as she soared back towards the mountain, quickly reentering the bounds of the city. Maybe, even if just for now, her future would simply be making memories. Getting to experience all the happiness she had missed out on.

Shriek did a spin in midair as she made her way back to the clearing, searching from above for her siblings. After a bit of searching, she found them sitting off towards the edge of one of the bonfires; they had finished up with whatever story they had been telling, and were now talking among each other quietly. She landed next to them with a soft smile, raising a wing in greeting. "Hey there. Are you three alright?"

"Yeah, we're fine," Turna replied. "Why, is something wrong?"

"No, I just wanted to make sure you guys are okay. Are you going to sleep soon?" Her siblings nodded, and Shriek hummed. "Well, I'm going to keep flying around for a little longer. I'll see you guys later." The three smaller owls nodded, and Shriek took off into the night sky once more.

Shriek flew up to the top of the giant oak tree, drifting gently in lazy circles around its trunk. She looked out on the city, as the many lights slowly started being put out for the night. Shriek noticed, however, that a single light much farther away from all the others kept burning. Even as the torches and bonfires in the city's center were being put out, the single flame deep into the woods stayed lit.

Shriek perched on one of the tree's branches, and glared at the light. It was probably just some birds celebrating for longer than everyone else, but that raised the concern that they might fall asleep without putting out the fire, and it might get out of control. There was probably some group in charge of taking care of birds that kept torches and whatnot going for too long, but Shriek didn't see anyone else going to see what was going on with the light, so she decided to check for herself.

She hopped off of the tree branch and glided through the air, slowly making her way towards the flame in the distance. As she neared it, she was able to make out that the flame was a small campfire, with a crow, two eagles, a raven, and an owl surrounding it, all of whom were a bit shorter than Shriek herself. Shriek didn't recognize any of them, and none of them seemed to notice her until she was landing down just outside of the group. As she touched down on the ground, one of the eagles suddenly blinked, and looked up to see her. "Um... hi miss." The other four birds turned to look at Shriek, and she noticed that they all seemed to be a bit unfocused.

"Hey there. Are you five alright?"

"Oh yeah, we're fine. Just a little... tired." A moment later, the other four birds nodded.

"Well if you're tired, you should probably put that fire out and go home, yeah?"

"...Yeah, yeah yeah. We will. In a minute." Shriek looked at the eagle suspiciously. "Um... right. Right now. We'll put it out. Right now."

"You have three seconds to tell me what you lot are doing out here."

The eagle squeaked and flapped his wings around as all of the other birds backed up and their eyes widened. "N-nothing wrong! We're not doing anything bad, we swear!"

Shriek rose one of her wings in the air and hunched down a tiny bit. "Then what are you all doing so far out here so late? Everyone else is already going to bed; why aren't you?"

"We-we're just hanging out!" The eagle settled back down, twiddling their wings together. "We were seeing who could stay up the latest! That's it, I promise!"

Shriek glared at the eagle and slowly walked towards them, towering over them as they hunched over, their friends looking at them worriedly. Shriek stood still for a moment, before backing up and stopping her glare. "...Fine. I'll believe you." The birds all let out sighs of relief, though they all moved a bit closer to each other. "Though if you really were seeing who could stay up the longest, then it was incredibly irresponsible of you to have a fire going. Don't do this again, alright?"

The birds all mumbled out agreements, not looking Shriek in the eyes. The owl put out the fire, and all five of the birds took off into the sky to go back to their homes. Once all five of them had started on their ways home, Shriek took flight herself, aiming back to the nest.

She flew through the air quietly, watching as the last of the lights were put out for the night. She touched down at the nest as quietly as she could, seeing that everyone else had already gotten back, and that they were all asleep. Shriek smiled softly, before finding an empty spot and laying down, quickly drifting to sleep in the quiet of the night.


	19. Back home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The time comes for the birds to go back home.

Shriek woke to a light, repetitive poking against her left wing. She grumbled and shifted it to try and push away whatever was disturbing her rest, but the source of the poking simply continued on unfazed. A couple more attempts, and Shriek flicked her wing with a growl. "I'm awake, what do you _want?"_

"For you to get up, Shriek." She blinked her eyes a few times to try and rid them of the haze of sleep, and looked to her left to see Everan standing there with a cheeky grin. "I know you want to sleep in, but you've got to go home or your parents are going to get worried."

Shriek let out a heavy yawn and stretched her wings. "Right, home. Don't want Kuro freaking out and destroying half of the city."

Everan chuckled and stood a bit taller, stretching her wings out. "Sure don't want that. I'm afraid that I've got something I've got to be doing, so I guess this is goodbye. Be sure to come back some time, alright?"

"Wait a second." Shriek stood up and pulled Everan into a hug, which the eagle returned after a moment. "I'll come back sooner or later, so don't you worry."

Everan gave her cousin a warm smile as Shriek let her go from the hug. "I'll be sure not to." The eagle started to turn around, then stopped and looked at Shriek. "By the way, that Remia bird is here. She said she wanted to talk to you about something, since she didn't see you at all last night." Shriek gave a tired nod, shaking her head out, and Everan took off into the sky.

Shriek looked around the nest, quickly taking note of all of the birds present. Her siblings were all awake and present towards the center of the nest, having a conversation with Chima. Ezazen and Cassia were present to Shriek's right, talking to each other while they sorted through a small pile of things. Lastly, Remia sat to Shriek's left, waiting at the very edge of the nest. The raven nodded at her, to which Shriek nodded back before going over to Ezazen and Cassia.

Shriek walked over to stand to Cassia's right, on the opposite side of Ezazen. "Good morning. What are you guys doing?"

"Sorting through old things we don't need any more," Ezazen explained. "It's good to see you up. Did you sleep well?"

"Meh. Could have slept worse." Shriek poked at a tiny cloth doll of an eagle. "Do you know where Lily and Samon are?"

"I'm afraid they both already left to work on their shop. They asked us to say goodbye to you for them."

Shriek nodded with a small frown. "Guess I should've said goodbye to them last night." She nudged the eagle doll around a bit, her frown being replaced bya soft smile. "Do you need any help with this?"

"We'll be fine," Cassia reassured her. The eagle looked up from the pile of things with a sad expression. "It's been so nice having you and your siblings here Shriek. I hope you enjoyed your stay."

Ezazen nodded in agreement with her. "It's a shame you can't stay longer."

"We _could,"_ Shriek said, "but our parents would get worried, and we don't want to cause a commotion, so we've got to be going. We'll be sure to visit again, though."

"You'd better," Cassia teased, "or we'll get you." Shriek snickered and exchanged hugs with Cassia and Ezazen, then waved goodbye to them and walked over to Chima, who was now alone; Tok, Tengma and Turna had finished talking to the older eagle, and were now instead talking to Remia by the edge of the nest.

Chima smiled at Shriek as she approached. "Good morning Shriek. Did you get enough sleep?"

"Plenty, sorry that I slept so late."

"Don't worry about it," Chima said. "Are you ready to go yet?"

Shriek shook her head. "Almost. Still have to say bye to my friend."

"Well then, I suppose you should go do that." Chima's smile brightened, and her eyes scrunched up happily. She leaned forward and wrapped Shriek into a hug, patting her gently on the back. "It's been wonderful having you and your siblings here. Thank you for trusting us so much."

Shriek stood stunned for a moment, before smiling herself and returning Chima's hug. "Thank you for letting us stay here aunt Chima. I'm gonna miss all of you."

The older eagle chuckled and let go of Shriek, backing up and shaking her head. "We'll miss you too Shriek. Now go on, your siblings are going to get impatient if you keep them waiting for too long."

"Of course they will," she laughed. "Bye aunt Chima. I'll be sure to visit soon."

"No rush Shriek. Safe travels." She nodded and thanked Chima, then walked over to the edge of the nest where Tok, Tengma, Turna and Remia were talking.

Tengma hopped over to Shriek as she got near and started running wildly around one of her wings. "Come on come on come on come on-"

Shriek quickly pushed her wing forward as Tengma ran in front of it, causing the smaller owl to lose balance and fall over with a yelp. "Are we sure that you're an adult?"

Tengma stood up and brushed herself off, innocently looking Shriek dead in the eyes. "Yeah, why do you ask?" Shriek stared back at her for a second, before they both broke down into snickers. "Come on already, we've got to go!"

"Wait you little punk, I have to say bye to Remia first." Tengma groaned and leaned against Shriek's side, inciting a snicker from the owl. "How about this: you guys go on ahead, and I'll catch up to you once I'm done talking with Remia. Sound good?"

"No, not really."

"Then I guess you'll just have to wait." Tengma groaned again and walked over to her brothers, sitting down and waiting quietly for Shriek and Remia to exchange goodbyes.

Shriek turned to her friend, who was sitting patiently with a smile. "Sorry about that. Everan said you wanted to talk with me about something?"

Remia nodded, playing with a couple of the feathers on her wing. "Yeah, don't worry it'll be quick. I just wanted to say goodbye," her smile widened a bit, "and thank you for hanging out with me. It was great to meet you."

Shriek beamed and pulled Remia into a hug. "It was great meeting you too." She backed up, letting go of the raven. "I'll see you some time soon."

"That'd be great. Have a safe flight."

Shriek nodded and thanked her, before walking over to her siblings. "You guys ready?" They all nodded and the four of them took off into the sky, flying back to their home in Nibel.

* * *

"Kids!" Kuro pulled all four of her children into a hug as they landed, a bright smile crossing her face. "You're safe!"

"Yes, mom," Shriek said. "We are, in fact, safe. As you can tell. Because you are not letting us go."

"Very funny." Kuro let her kids go, the four accepting hugs from the much calmer Phoenix. "How was the city? Did you enjoy your time?"

Turna nodded calmly. "It was good. Meeting everyone else was really nice, and we all had a lot of fun."

Kuro nodded along. "That's good, that's good." Kuro's smile turned softer and more relaxed. "It's good to have you all home." A look of worry crossed Kuro face and she looked to Phoenix, who nodded and motioned to her with a wing. Kuro sighed deeply, taking a moment to compose herself. "Kids, could you sit down for a minute? I'd like to talk with you about something." The younger owls looked around at each other in confusion, but all sat down after a second, looking at Kuro expectantly.

Kuro looked around nervously for a few seconds before shaking her head. "I was thinking about something while you were away. Tok, Turna, Tengma, I understand that I haven't been very responsible about making sure that you three are prepared for growing up, and I'd like to try and fix that. So, if you'd like, I'd be willing to teach the three of you some magic." The owls sat stunned for a moment, staring at their mother in shock. Kuro turned to Shriek, worry still clear on her face. "That offer extends to you as well, Shriek."

There was a moment of silence, before all three of the younger owls suddenly rushed forward and gave their mother as big of a hug as they could. "Thank you!" Turna said, "Thank you so, so much!" Shriek joined them in hugging Kuro, though she was much more calm about it.

The worry in Kuro's eyes faded, and she returned their hug. "Don't thank me yet," she replied, "learning magic isn't easy, and it's going to take a while."

"Doesn't matter," Shriek stated. "I think we'd all like to learn magic." The birds all backed up, letting go of the hug. "When do we start?"

"Tomorrow, if that's alright?" All of the owls nodded, excited to start learning. "Alright then." Kuro turned to Phoenix, who was sitting patiently, watching the rest of the family with a warm smile. "Can you go pick up Ku? I need to go ask for some help with this." Phoenix nodded, and took off into the sky towards Ori's home. Kuro ruffled her feathers a bit with a shake of her head. "Alright. Like I said, I'm going to go ask for some help teaching you kids. Can you get yourselves readjusted while I do that?"

"We'll be fine," Shriek said. "I'll keep them out of trouble." The others squawked indignantly, poking at Shriek's wings as she and Kuro snickered. Kuro gave her kids another hug, then set off into the sky, flying towards the Ginso Tree.

Shriek watched as her siblings chatted with each other, going about sorting through the few things they owned. They slowly settled back into the nest, happy to be back into the familiar environment. Shriek sighed happily, sitting down to rest, and closing her eyes. Shriek had enjoyed her time in Neverfall, but Nibel was home to her. She hummed to herself, basking in the quiet sounds of her siblings' talking and the soft breeze blowing through the air.

It was good to be home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little short, but I think adding more would just make it worse.  
> Shriek's time as the main focus is over for now; I'll probably return to her eventually, but I'd like to do some Ori focused chapters.


	20. Day for two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ori and Sein hang out for a day.

Early in the morning, Ori walked into the Hollow Grove with his siblings, the two younger spirits running off into the Hollow Grove to play with the other little spirits. Ori bowed before the tree himself, a smile wide on his face. "Good morning sir!"

"Good morning Ori," the tree rumbled back. "What brings you here today?"

"Is Sein going to be busy? I was wondering if they wanted to hang out for the day."

There was a moment of silence until the tree rumbled again. "No, there's nothing particularly important to do. They're coming down now."

Ori smiled as Sein floated down from the tree, and he pulled the orb into a hug once they reached him. "Hey there," they said. "Did you have anything in particular planned?"

"Not really, I just wanted to spend time with you." They hummed quietly, coming to rest on top of his head. "I could probably think of something though. Is there anything you want to do?"

Sein sat silently for a moment. "Not in particular."

Ori hummed and hopped from one foot to another. "Maybe... how about we go to the Ginso Tree? I'm sure we could find something to do there." He clapped his hands together, a smile growing across his face. "We could climb to the top and look at the clouds if you want?"

Sein laughed softly, floating off of his head and a bit over his shoulder. "Sounds like fun. We should get going before anything comes up." Ori nodded, and the two quickly ran over to the Hollow Grove's spirit well, warping over to the Ginso Tree.

Ori stepped off of the spirit well and hopped up to the section that the Element of Waters resided within, Sein trailing close behind him. A quiet hum echoed through the tree as the element glowed a soft blue. "Hello Ori and Sein," Ginso greeted, "what brings you here?"

"We're just passing through," Sein explained. "There's not much important going on today, so Ori and I are spending some time together. We were going to go to the top of the tree to watch the clouds." They paused for a moment. "There's not anything in the way, is there?"

"No, there isn't. Simply follow the path you traveled when you restored the element, and you will find yourselves at the top."

Ori nodded, making his way to start climbing up the tree. "Thank you Ginso!"

"It is no trouble. We are happy to help." There was a moment of silence as Ori started bashing up the many lanterns suspended within the tree, when Ginso suddenly spoke again. "Oh, one more thing." Ori grabbed onto the wall of the tree, looking back at Ginso. "Could you come back down once you are done? There is something we would like to speak with you about."

"Sounds good to me," Ori replied, Sein bobbing up and down in agreement. Ori returned to climbing up the tree with Sein following right behind him, the two following the same path they had taken to escape the flood of water that had accompanied the element's restoration.

The pair eventually reached the exit to the top of the tree, and Ori hauled himself up to the top. He walked over to the edge of the treetop and laid down, letting out a breath as he did so. Sein came to rest next to his head, bumping lightly against him and inciting a giggle from the spirit. Ori looked up to the sky, smiling softly as he looked at the clouds.

The two sat in silence for a few minutes until Ori spoke. "You're not overworking yourself, right?"

Sein took a moment before replying. "I don't think so. Why do you ask?"

"I just want to make sure."

"Thank you Ori." The spirit giggled and sat up, pulling Sein onto his lap. He rubbed their top, absently looking around the sky. "How has living on your own been?"

"...It's alright." Ori shifted around a bit to try and make himself more comfortable. "I... miss Swallow's Nest sometimes. I miss my mom. I miss being closer to everyone. But... it feels nice to be independent." Ori sighed, leaning back a little. "I'm just afraid of becoming distant from everyone else."

Sein floated out of Ori's lap and rubbed against his head softly, giving off a quiet hum. "I'm sure everything will turn out fine," they reassured. "I'll be here to help you whenever you need me, alright?"

Ori smiled and pulled them into a hug. "Alright," he whispered. "And I'll be here to help you, okay?"

"Okay." They floated out of Ori's hug, resting back down in his lap. "Well, this certainly didn't go as planned."

Ori giggled madly, falling onto his back. "No, it didn't, did it?" Sein soon joined him in giggling, floating up to rest next to his head.

The two eventually calmed down, settling into a comfortable silence for a few minutes. Sein's glow suddenly intensified a tiny bit, and they floated upwards, grabbing Ori's attention. "I know how we could help you be less worried about being distant from everyone else."

Ori's eyes widened and he sat up, crossing his legs together. "You do? How?"

"We could build a spirit well in the Orchard!"

Ori looked at Sein for a few seconds, before smiling brightly and hopping up to pull them into a hug. "Sein, that's a great idea!" He suddenly hesitated before letting them go, Sein floating up to his eye level as his smile faded a bit. "Wait, I don't know how hard that would be, but I'm sure it can't possibly be easy. I can't ask you to do that."

Sein's light dimmed slightly, and they floated a tiny bit closer to the Ori. "I don't want you to worry about becoming distant from everyone," they said. "I'm entirely willing to do this if it helps you. And if I need help, I'll be sure to ask for it, okay?"

The spirit was silent for a moment before sighing. "You promise me you'll ask for any help you need?"

Sein floated upward and rested on Ori's head. "I promise."

Ori's eyes scrunched up for a moment, before he sighed and picked Sein up off of his head. His smile slowly returned, and he gave them a small kiss on their top. "Alright. Please, make sure to take care of yourself Sein. And remember, when I say any help, that includes help from me." Sein hummed in agreement, and Ori's smile brightened. "Now, is there anything I can do to help you out?"

"Why don't we start worrying about the spirit well tomorrow?"

"That sounds like a good idea." Ori smirked. "But you still didn't answer my question."

Sein giggled quietly. "No, Ori, I'm good. I'll tell you if I need any help though." Ori smiled and nodded, and the orb floated out of his hands and up next to his shoulder. "How about we go see what Ginso wanted, then we can go for a walk in the Glades?" Ori nodded, and climbed back down the hole into the tree, Sein following close behind him.

The two retraced their steps back through the tree, soon arriving at the element. Ginso hummed as they approached, and the two came to a stop. "Hi Ginso," Ori said, "what was it that you wanted to talk with us about?"

"Yesterday, Kuro had approached us with a request," they explained. "She is teaching her children magic, and had asked us to help teach one of them the basics of water magic. We wondered if you had also been approached with a similar request."

Ori shrugged. "I didn't. Did you Sein?"

"No, I didn't even know Kuro was going to teach her kids magic. Do you know why she is, Ginso?"

"We are not, unfortunately. That is all we wished to speak with you on."

Ori nodded. "Alright, have a nice day Ginso." The creature bid them farewell, and Ori and Sein hopped down to the spirit well, stepping onto it and warping over to the Sunken Glades.

"I always forget how quiet it is in the Glades," Sein remarked. They looked around for a moment, hovering away from Ori to survey their surroundings. "It's really peaceful."

"Sure is," Ori said. "I love walking through here, especially on foggy mornings." Ori spun in a circle, marveling at the lush plant life around the two. "It was like that for that one picnic we had with Naru and Gumo, remember? The first one where we had some liquid light?"

"Yeah, I remember." Sein looked around for a bit, before floating forwards. "Come on, let's explore."

They returned to their walk, Sein hovering a bit ahead of Ori, floating throughout the trees and bushes of the Glades. They would occasionally call out to Ori, leading him to see something interesting they found, like a particularly large tree or a rare type of berry. They spent the rest of their day slowly walking through the undergrowth, exploring everything they could.

As the sun began to set, Ori climbed up to one of the highest branches of a tall oak tree, Sein following just behind him. He sat down on the branch and rested his back against the tree, Sein floating into his arms. He lightly rubbed their top as he looked out towards the Spirit Tree, a sad look passing onto his face. "I wish we could spend more time like this," Ori whispered. "Hanging out, having fun, being with each other."

Sein hummed in agreement. "I do too," they whispered. "I enjoy spending time with you, even when we don't do much."

They sat quietly for a moment, listening as the night came to life. Ori shifted around a bit,"I don't want to go back yet, Sein."

"Neither do I." They floated up, resting on top of his head as he closed his eyes.

"Maybe you could spend a night at my house," he muttered. "I'm sure the forest would be fine, and the Spirit Tree probably wouldn't mind."

Sein let out a quiet hum. "Maybe. We should plan for it, though."

Ori hummed himself. "You're probably right."

They returned to quiet, the sounds of the night growing more numerous. After a few minutes, Ori sighed, stretching out his limbs with a groan. Sein floated upwards, hovering up next to his shoulder as he stood up. Ori looked up at the sky, seeing the moon and all of the stars in the dark of the night. "We should probably go back now."

"Probably," Sein quietly responded. They slowly descended the tree, Ori taking his time to hop on as many branches as he could on the way down. Once they reached the ground, they started their walk back to the Spirit Tree, though Sein noticed that Ori was walking directly towards the Hollow Grove instead of the spirit well, which would have been faster. They didn't say anything though; they wanted to spend as much time with him as they could.

Their walk didn't last forever though, and they eventually reached the entrance to the clearing that the Spirit Tree stood in. Ori sighed as he saw the Spirit Tree come into view, and he slowed his walking just a bit. Still, they eventually reached the spirit well that sat before the Spirit Tree. Ori stopped walking, standing at the top of the hill, and turned to his partner floating next to him. "Sein?"

"Yes Ori?"

"Thank you for spending time with me."

The orb's light flickered for a moment, before they floated down to him and let him bring them into a hug. "Thank you for spending time with me," they said. "I'll see what we can do to get a spirit well set up, and then we'll be able to spend even more time together."

"That sounds great to me." Ori gave Sein a kiss on their top, before letting them go. "Have a good night. I'll come back to see you tomorrow?"

"I would love that. You have a good night too." They floated away, up to their perch.

There were a pair of footsteps behind Ori, and he turned to see Blaze and Sera walking up to him, both of them with tired looks in their eyes. "Sorry we took so long you guys." Ori picked them both up, Blaze yawning as he did so, and sighed. Ori waved goodbye to the Spirit Tree, and started his walk back home.


	21. Live

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life keeps changing, and change can be a good thing.

Ori sat on a hill in the meadow before the Spirit Tree, rubbing Sein's top while they sat in his lap. "We need a base, first of all."

"I can probably do that," he said. "And I'm sure Gumo would be willing to help too."

Sein hummed in acknowledgement. "That's the easy part. After that, we need to connect the well with the one in the Sunken Glades, which will hook it up with the rest of the wells in Nibel."

"How do we do that?"

"The Spirit Tree and I can handle that part. It's mostly just creating a trail of light from one spirit well to another."

"Is that hard?"

"Not really. More tiring than hard. I'll manage though, so don't worry." Ori nodded with a hum, looking out at the area before him and Sein, where many of the little spirits were playing. It was a rather windy day, which combined with the cold of winter caused Ori to shiver a bit. At a particularly bad shudder from the cold, Sein's light flickered and they rose into the air. "Alright, come on. We're going some place warmer."

Ori smiled fondly, standing up and walking over to the spirit well with Sein following just behind him. "How does Swallow's Nest sound?"

"Good to me. It's been a bit since I last visited Naru and Gumo." He nodded and stepped onto the well, the two warping to the Sunken Glades. Sein floated ahead of Ori as he stepped off of the well. "Once we're done with the well in the Orchard, we should build one in Swallow's Nest too."

"We should ask Naru and Gumo if it's okay to first, since they're the ones living in Swallow's Nest," Ori said. "And if they say it's okay, please promise me you'll wait to regain your strength in between each one?"

They floated over to him, resting down in his arms. "I promise. No unnecessarily overexerting myself." Ori smiled and nodded, giving them a small kiss on their top.

They walked along the path to Swallow's Nest, quietly appreciating the nature around them. They eventually arrived at the cave Naru and Gumo lived in, and Ori walked in with a happy hum. "Mom?"

"Ori?" Naru was sitting on a bench, sewing together a large roll of cloth. She put it down when she saw him and Sein, then walked over and swept him into a hug. "Oh, hello Ori, hello Sein! How are you doing?"

"We're good," Ori said, returning the hug. "Sein was just concerned about me getting too cold, so they said we should go somewhere warmer, and I haven't seen you in a few days so I thought it would be nice to visit."

Naru put Ori down and nodded happily. "It's good to see you two again. What have you been doing the past few days?"

"Not much," Ori said. "I was mostly playing with Ku and my siblings, and Sein was helping to maintain the forest."

"We did hang out for most of the day yesterday," Sein mentioned.

A smile crossed Naru's face as she walked back over to the bench. "Oh? Did you two enjoy yourselves?"

"Yep!" Ori hopped over to the bench, sitting down next to Naru as she returned to her sewing. "We also started making some plans to build a spirit well in the Orchard, so that I can visit more often."

"That's wonderful! I hope it won't be too difficult for you."

"It'll be more tedious than difficult," Sein said. "We were also wondering if it would be okay to build a spirit well here in Swallow's Nest as well."

Naru nodded happily while she sewed. "I think that sounds like a wonderful idea, and I'm sure Gumo will agree. I'm afraid that I don't know where you could put it, though."

Ori swung his legs back and forth, humming away. "Maybe we could build it on the other side of the bridge. There's plenty of space there."

"That could work," Sein muttered. "We've still got the problem of getting the materials to build the framework for it. And getting said materials over the bridge."

"We should wait for Gumo to get back first, so we can know for certain whether he's okay with it," Ori said. "In the meantime, maybe I can make some blankets for my siblings."

Naru nodded her head, focusing on her sewing. "You know where the supplies is, and we should have plenty of spare material." Ori nodded, making his way over to a pair of barrels full of sewing tools and fibers to be used as material. He took the tools he needed and a decent amount of fibers, then returned to the bench next to his mother, starting on sewing together blankets for his siblings to use. Sein set down next to Ori, watching as he and Naru focused on their work. Naru would occasionally pause her work to look at Ori's progress, giving him advice on things to improve.

Ori managed to get through one full blanket, and was about to start on a second when he heard a familiar humming coming from the entrance to the cave. "Hi Gumo!"

The Gumon entered the cave, a smile on his face and a small wooden box in one of his hands, and waved to the spirit with his free hand. "Hello Ori. Oh, hello to you too Sein. It's good to see you two."

"Good to see you too Gumo," Ori replied, hopping over to the Gumon and giving him a hug. "What's in the box?"

"Some tools and a couple parts," the Gumon said, putting Ori down. "How are you two doing?"

"We're fine," Sein answered. "Ori was getting cold, so I told him we should go somewhere warmer, and he thought it would be a good idea to visit, since we haven't in a little while." Gumo nodded, putting the box down in a small pile of various small contraptions. "We were also thinking of building a spirit well here in Swallow's Nest, and were wondering if you and Naru were okay with it."

Gumo shrugged. "If Naru's okay with it, I'm okay with it."

Naru laughed, putting down the piece of cloth she was working on. "I suppose that's settled. You said you're probably going to build it on the other side of the bridge, right?"

"Right," Sein replied. "Once we've gotten the one we're going to build in the Orchard set up and I've recovered my strength from linking it up, we'll get to building the one here."

"That sounds fine to me," Naru said. "Do you two have anything else to do, or can you stay for a bit longer?"

Ori turned to Sein, a soft smile on his face. "I'd like to stay for a little longer, if you'd like to."

"Sounds good to me," Sein replied. Ori nodded happily, hopping back over to the bench to get started on the second blanket.

"I can get lunch started if you want," Gumo offered. "How does some soup sound?"

"Good to me," Naru replied, Ori nodding in agreement. "I'm afraid we don't have any liquid light at the moment Sein."

The orb hummed softly. "Don't worry about it. That's another reason for us to get the spirit well built." Naru hummed and nodded, focusing on her work.

"I could go get you some," Ori offered, putting down the fibers he was beginning to work on. "It wouldn't take too long."

"I'll be fine," Sein replied. "Though, maybe we could get some on our way back?"

Ori nodded with a smile, going back to the fibers for a moment. He suddenly stopped however, looking back to Sein before giving them a small kiss on their top. "Love you," he whispered, a smile on his face.

Sein's light flickered for a moment, before they floated up and into his lap. "I love you too Ori."

* * *

Shriek opened one eye cautiously. It was late at night, and everyone seemed to be asleep. She slowly got up and made her way out of the nest as quietly as possible, careful not to wake any of her family members. Once she was far enough away from the cave the nest was in, she took off into the night sky, flying up to the top of the mountain.

She reached a relatively level area towards the top of the mountain, far away from anyone else, and stood towards the center. She sat down, stuck out one of her wings, and focused on it. Small sparks of darkness began to form around the wing, slowly creating the vague shape of a slightly larger wing made from pure darkness.

About a minute into her concentration, the darkness suddenly fizzled, and Shriek hissed as the magic collapsed and quickly faded away. She grumbled and tried again, attempting to focus harder on the wing, trying to bring the magic into a stable form. Her second attempt failed once again, with no noticeable improvement from her first attempt. Shriek tried once again, yet her results were no better than her first two attempts, and she pulled her wing back when the magic collapsed. Shriek sighed and lifted her wing to try again.

"Not like that."

She hopped up and quickly turned around to see Kuro standing behind and to her left. "Um. Hi mom."

"Hello Shriek. You're not forming it right."

Shriek blinked. "I'm not?"

"No, you aren't." Kuro held out her wing to her side, darkness quickly spreading from the tip of her wing up to the point where it connected to the rest of her body. "You want to build it from the inside out, not just randomly filling in gaps. Start at the tip of your wing as well, and make sure you're holding it as steady as possible."

Shriek looked at her wing, then to Kuro, then back to her wing. She extended it outwards as flat as she could, trying to keep it as still as possible. She began focusing the magic at the very tip of her wing, bringing it together as close to her wing as she could. The magic slowly yet surely began to cover more and more of her wing, until the entirety of it was covered in a thin layer of darkness. She focused a bit more, and the layer slowly became larger. She carefully and slowly moved it around, making sure to keep her movements as smooth as possible.

A minute of testing around later, Shriek dissipated the magic. She looked to Kuro to find the owl smiling proudly at her. "Great job Shriek."

"Thank you." She shifted nervously from talon to talon. "Am I in trouble?"

Kuro shook her head. "No Shriek, you're not in trouble; however, you should ask for help next time you want to learn more advanced magic, alright?"

"Alright, I will." Kuro nodded and turned around, heading back down to the nest with Shriek trailing behind her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this story was enjoyable to read.


End file.
